James and Jade North and the Book of Possession
by Lady Alianne
Summary: Sequel to James and Jade North and the Philosopher's Stone. The 'twins' start their second year of Hogwarts, with a mysterious diary that Jade found and an escapee from Azkaban who isn't what he seems. COMPLETE!
1. Sirius Black

Authors' Note: Well, this is the sequel to _James and Jade North and the Philosopher's Stone_. It deals with James and Jade's second year at Hogwarts. Unlike the previous fic, it won't follow canon so much. Some events that happened in the third book will actually happen now, because of the ideas we have in mind for third year. Ginny Weasley will not get Riddle's diary. Lucius Malfoy will see fit to give it to someone else, which is a mistake on his part. The person getting the diary will not be naive like Ginny was, and won't end up being possessed byTom Riddleand start Petrifying students.

Disclaimer for entire fic: We do not own Harry Potter. It belongs to the fantastic author J.K. Rowling.

This fic is dedicated to Knight25, who came up with the title.

James sighed and looked enviously at Jade, who was playing one of his video games. This was the final day of the twins' week-long grounding. He couldn't spend every hour of the day doing his summer homework, so he read much of the time. At least his mother hadn't forbidden him from reading for pleasure. Jade, on the other hand, couldn't read for pleasure, so she had taken up playing video games when she wasn't doing homework or spending time with Hermione.

"Dinner!" called Mrs. North from the kitchen. James set down _Magic's Promise _and Jade saved and turned off the game. The two went into the kitchen, where they set the table. 

During dessert, an owl flew in with an edition of the _Evening Prophet_. Mrs. North paid the owl for the delivery and looked at the front page. "Hmm, it looks like Larry Anton had his trial today."

The twins looked up. "Really?" asked Jade with interest. "What happened?'

"Well, the entire Wizengamot found him guilty to passing off his son as Harry Potter," responded Mrs. North. "Mr. Anton was fined two hundred Galleons. As he's American, the American equvilent of the Wizengamot will decide if there should be any further punishment, like a prison term. His son, Darryl, will not be allowed to return to Hogwarts, and it doesn't seem likely that any other wizarding school will take him unless he manages to convince them that his father was completely behind the whole thing."

"Serves him right," muttered James. "He was a horrible person, anyway."

Mrs. North raised a brow. "You shouldn't talk like that, James. Darryl Anton isn't Voldemort or any of his Death Eaters."

"Sorry, Mum. Is there anything else that's interesting in the paper?"

"Not much. The search for the real Harry Potter has resumed, but so far there's been no luck. This time, anyone who claims to be Harry Potter will have to undergo a blood test and some questioning under influence of Veritserum. Oh, and Cornelius Fudge, the Minister, had his yearly inspection of Azkaban today. You can read the paper after you've done the dishes, James and Jade."

Jade and James were playing a game of chess when an ancient owl flew in and fell on the table. James removed the letter attatched to the leg and then Jade carefully moved the owl to perch and gave him some water.

The letter turned out to be from Ron, and the owl was Errol, the family owl. Included in the letter was a clipping from that day's edition of the _Daily Prophet_, which was about Arthur Weasley winning the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw. The money would be spent on the entire family visiting Ron's brother Bill in Egypt for a few weeks. Ron wasn't sure if he would be able to make it to James and Jade's birthday party, but he promised to send his presents for them if he was unable to attend.

"Well, the Weasleys definitely deserve something like this," commented Jade when she was done reading the letter.

Three days later, the entire wizarding world was in an uproar over mass murderer Sirius Black escaping from Azkaban. From the article about his escape, it mentioned that the Azkaban guards had heard him mutter "He's at Hogwarts," in his sleep. Nobody knew who Sirius was referring to, except that it wasn't Harry Potter. When the Minister had come for his inspection, Sirius had asked for the newspaper, and therefore would have read that the search for Harry Potter was going on.

That evening, Mrs. North sat the twins down. "I have something to tell you about Sirius Black, James. As you know, I was in the year above your parents at Hogwarts. Well, Sirius Black was your father's best friend. I believe he was best man at your parents' wedding and was named as your godfather. Sirius Black and James Potter often got into mischief at school, but they were both good people. However, it appears that Sirius joined Voldemort sometime after graduating and revealed the Potters' location, resulting in Voldemort killing your parents and trying to kill you, James."

"You mean the escaped convict is my godfather and betrayed my parents?" demanded James, shocked.

"It looks like it, but I find it hard to believe. In any case, another friend of your father's Peter Pettigrew, went after Sirius. He shouted for the whole street to hear that Sirius was basically responsible for the deaths of Lily and James Potter. Then it seems that Sirius took out his wand and blasted the street up. Twelve Muggles were killed, along with Peter Pettigrew. The largest part of his body that they could find was his finger. He was posthumously awarded an Order of Merlin, which was given to his mother. Since all evidence points for Sirius killing Pettigrew and the Muggles, I suppose he really did so. I'm not so sure about his joining Voldemort and betraying your parents, however. Sirius never showed any liking for the Dark Arts while at Hogwarts."

"So what do we do about Sirius?" asked Jade. "And how in the world did he escape anyway, Mum?"

"Nobody has figured that out yet, Jade," answered Mrs. North. "As for Sirius, what I would like to do is question him and find out if he really was responsible for everything or if he was just framed. It wasn't like he was given a trial to ascertain if he was inoocent or not. The Ministry just assumed that he was guilty and tossed him into Azkaban for life. Added to the fact that he came from a family with a reputation of believing in pureblood supremecy, nobody thought he could be innocent."

Jade looked thoughtful. After a minute, "Couldn't you make a Portkey and have Hedwig send it to Sirius Black? The instant he touched it, he'd appear here. You'd have to tie him up so he couldn't escape and then question him under Veritserum. If he's guilty, you can contact the Ministry and have him hauled back to Azkaban."

"That is a good idea," said Mrs. North in mild surprise. "You know, I think I'll carry it out. It's a good thing I set up a Potions lab in the basement last year and brewed some Veritserum a couple of months ago."

While she went to arrange things, James and Jade discussed what their mother had told them about Sirius Black. They hoped that Sirius was innocent of his crimes, but were doubtful, because all the evidence pointed to him being guilty.

Two evenings later, Hedwig must have found Sirius Black, for he appeared in a heap on the floor in the living room, a bright gold-colored rock in his hand. His black hair was long and shaggy and his once-handsome face was gaunt. The grey robes he was wearing were worn, dirty, and somewhat tattered. A look of complete puzzlement was on face, replaced by fear a second later as Mrs. North pointed her wand at him and magically bound him with ropes.

"I am Sylvia Bradshaw North," she said sternly. "I see you remember me, Black. Anyway, I was discussing you with my children and expressed the wish that I could question you and find out if you were really guilty of all your crimes. So my daughter suggested I send out an owl looking for you, with a Portkey that would bring you to our house. So here you are."

James poured some apple juice from a pitcher into four glasses. However, the one meant for Sirius had three drops of Veritserum in it. "Drink this," said Mrs. North curtly, holding the glass with the Veritserum to Sirius's lips. The twins took a long draft from thier glasses to prove that the juice was harmless.

Sirius downed the contents of the cup and then Mrs. North drank her juice. After, she continued, "What is your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black," answered Sirius.

"Were you ever a Death Eater, or at least supported Voldemort's ideas and aims?"

"No to either one."

"Did you betray the Potters' location to Voldemort?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

"Peter Pettigrew did. I thought that Voldemort would go after me as I would be the obvious person made the Potters' Secret-Keeper, so I convinced Lily and James to switch to Peter."

"What really happened that day Peter Pettigrew and twelve Muggles died?"

"I went looking for Peter, because he'd betrayed the Potters. However, Peter turned out to be too crafty. He basically shouted that I was responsible for Lily and James's deaths. His wand was hidden behind him and he did the spell that blasted the street apart and killed the Muggles. Peter is an unregistered Animagus, with the form of a rat. He removed one of his fingers, then transformed into his rat form and escaped. The Ministry caught up with me then and arrested me."

Jade dropped the cup in her hand in shock. As the living room was carpeted, it didn't break. "So you're innocent!"

Mrs. North ignored her and asked, "Sirius, how and why did you escape from Azkaban? And how did you remain sane?"

"I am also an unregistered Animagus," he answered. "My form is a large black dog. I was able to keep my mind around the Dementors by thinking that I was innocent, which isn't a happy thought and couldn't be sucked out of me. Because of that, sometimes I would be able to turn into a dog to lessen the effects of the Dementors. When I saw the article in the Daily Prophet about Arthur Weasley winning the Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon and the picture next to it, I realized that Peter was still alive."

James dug out the clipping and looked at the picture again. On Ron's shoulder was his rat, Scabbers. James gasped. "You don't mean that Pettigrew was masquerading as my friend Ron's pet rat?"

Sirius nodded. "I recognized Wormtail's Animagus form. Oh, Wormtail is the nickname our friends called him at Hogwarts. Since I knew that he was alive, I was concerned about finding him and bringing him to justice. That's why I decided to escape. I slipped out in my Animagus form."

Mrs. North removed the bindings and said, "Sirius Black, we believe you. Your drink had a few drops of Veritserum in it, so all your answers would be true. Oh, and the potion was in your cup, not in the pitcher of juice. Now, you are going to be cleaned up, and you can borrow my late husband's wand until your name is cleared and you can get a proper wand of your own. Once you've bathed and had something to eat, there are some things that we have to discuss."

Mrs. North dug out a set of her late husband's robes, and transfigured a piece of cloth into underwear. She handed them to Sirius and directed him to the upstairs bathroom. Forty-five minutes later, he emerged, clean and neatly dressed, with his long hair trimmed. He was shown into the kitchen, where he was given some soup and bread. 

After Sirius was done eating, Mrs. North removed the Glamour on James. She proceeded to explain that James was really Harry Potter and how she had adopted him almost eleven years ago. Sirius was very surprised to hear this. After he'd recovered, he pulled James into a bear hug and promised to keep the secret. Once the Glamour was resumed, Jade and James explained that Ron was their friend and once he returned from his vacation in Egypt, they would ask him to bring Scabbers over. Mrs. North would arrange for Pettigrew to be brought into the Ministry for questioning.

For the time being, Sirius would stay at the North home. There was no guest room for him to stay in, but he had no objection to sharing a room with his godson. Mrs. North gave permission for Hermione to be told the truth about Sirius Black the next day, but she had to be sworn to secrecy. James and Jade could also write to Neville about it via their notebooks, but nothing was to be said to Ron in case Scabbers aka Wormtail read the notebook while Ron was using it.

After Sirius told James and Jade about the Marauders and the reason why he was an unregistered Animagus, they all went to bed. James felt his head still spinning a little from the events of the evening. He'd discovered that his godfather was innocent of his crimes, and now steps were going to be taken to bring Wormtail to justice and clear Sirius's name. James drifted off to sleep, wondering what the future days would bring.

Author's Note: When Hedwig found Sirius, she dropped the rock on him. He bent down to see what it was that hit him. The instant Sirius touched the rock, the Portkey was activated and he was transported to the North home. 


	2. Birthdays and Sirius Cleared

"Sirius, I can't believe you behaved like that to Snape!" exclaimed James, looking at his godfather in mild shock. "Okay, I agree that he does have greasy hair and isn't a pleasant person, but that doesn't excuse what he did. Mum has taught me to be nice to everyone, unless they're truly evil or unpleasant people, like Death Eaters and stuff."

"Well, I was a teenager at the time, and my parents didn't exactly teach me to be nice to everyone," pointed out Sirius. "If I had listened to my parents, I'd have been nice only toSlytherins that they approved of and snubbed everyone else. But I suppose I did go overboard with my dislike of Snape."

"You did," said Jade firmly. "My cat has never reacted badly to Snape, so James and I are inclined to think that he's not an evil person, just someone who's on the unpleasant side and likes to favor the Slytherins. But then, when three-fourths of the school think that Slytherin is a terrible house and full of future Dark Wizards, I suppose Snape has to make up for it."

Sirius stared at her. "I never thought of it that way. I think Slughorn was the better Potions teacher anyway. He was fair to everyone, not just Slytherins, though of course he did have favorites. Anyone who was well-connected, famous, or had the potential to be great were invited to join his Slug Club. Your mum was part of it, James."

Mrs. North poked her head in the living room. "Remus Lupin will be here in a half an hour, Sirius. Jade, you might want to call Hermione and invite her over to meet Remus. And James, don't forget to remove your Glamour when Remus shows up."

The day after Sirius had appeared, Mrs. North had contacted Remus Lupin, for Sirius wanted him to know the truth. Remus had written back, agreeing to visit Sunday afternoon, though he wasn't told why just yet.

Hermione arrived on her bike twenty-five minutes later and was ushered into the living room. Five minutes after that, there was a loud crack. A young man in his early thirties with graying brown hair and tired brown eyes appeared in the garage. Mrs. North led him into the kitchen and gave him a heads up on the situation. 

"Listen, Sirius Black is here." She ignored Remus's start of surprise and continued, "My daughter suggested that I send a Portkey to him since I wanted to question him and find out the truth. Well, when I questioned him under Veritserum, he revealed that Peter Pettigrew was responsible for everything. Wormtail betrayed Lily and James to Voldemort, blasted the street and killed twelve Muggles, and then escaped in his rat form. He is now currently the pet rat of one of my children's best friends."

Remus sat down heavily in a chair. "So all this time I thought Sirius was the traitor, but it turns out that it was Wormtail."

Mrs. North nodded. "Well, Sirius is in the living room, with my children and a friend of theirs. Sirius asked me to contact you because he wanted you to know the truth. And there is also something else that we have to tell you."

Remus followed her to the living room. Sirius got up from the sofa and the two friend hugged each other tightly. Then they sat down and Sirius explained how he had escaped from Azkaban and how he found out Wormtail was still alive. After, Jade, James, and Hermione introduced themselves to Remus and told him that they knew he was a werewolf and didn't mind at all.

"What else do you have to tell me?" asked Remus, when he recovered from his surprise.

"Just this," responded James, removing the Glamour. "I'm Harry Potter. When my aunt and uncle didn't want me, they dumped me on a random doorstep of a house in another town. Well, the house happened to be this one, and when the owner found me, she adopted me and made me the twin brother to her daughter, Jade, with the birthday of July 25th. My name was changed to my middle name for safety reasons, and I've been James North ever since. Mum told me the truth on my eleventh birthday, but very few people know. Outside of the family and Sirius, the only ones who know are Jade and my best friends. And now you."

Remus sat in silence for almost a minute, digesting it all. Then he swept James into a hug. "So you're all right! I was very worried when the boy claiming to be Harry Potter turned out to be fraud and wished I could join in the search for you. But with my illness, I really couldn't. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone who you really are, James."

Mrs. North took in Remus's shabby appearance and said briskly, "Well, you can stay here, Remus. Sirius will want to catch up with you, and James will want to get to know you better, since you were one of James Potter's best friends. I don't have a guest room, so you'll have to sleep in the living room. The sofa pulls out into a bed. Once Sirius is cleared, other arrangements can be made as to where you can stay. And you can go home when the full moon comes in two weeks."

He looked as he wanted to protest, but the pleading look on Sirius's and James's faces made him give in. 

The next week was a pleasant one. Hermione's parents were told that Sirius Black was actually innocent and met him and Remus. The Drs. Grangers were horrifed to find that an innocent man had gone to prison without a trial and wondered at the justice system of the wizarding world. They calmed down, however, when Mrs. North explained that arrested people always got a trial now, and that Sirius's case was an exception due to the time period he was arrested. 

After a few square meals of Mrs. North's good cooking, Remus filled out a bit and no longer tooked so thin. The 'twins' were indignant to find out that werewolves were discriminated against in the wizarding world and therefore Remus could never get a steady job. The only employment that he had gotten in the past five years were Muggle ones.

A few days later, Hermione's parents offered Remus a part-time job. They explained that they needed someone at their dental clinic to file papers, make appointments, and basically be a mix of secretary and receptionist. Since the job was part-time, the schedule could be worked around the full moon. They made it very clear that it wasn't charity, nor were they doing a favor for Mrs. North, so in the end Remus stopped protesting and accepted the job.

The day before the 'twins' birthday, Ron sent a letter saying that he couldn't attend the party, because he was still on vacation in Egypt. However, he would be backthe day before Neville's birthday. A package was included with the letter, which contained two birthday cards, a Sneakascope for James, and an amber pendant with a scarab beetle for Jade.

The next day, the birthday party was held. Neville Flooed over, carrying two presents. He was introduced to Remus and Sirius, and nervously shook hands with them. While Neville knew that Sirius was innocent, he was still nervous about actually meeting the man everyone else thought was a mass murderer. After getting to know Sirius better, though, Neville stopped being nervous and relaxed. 

The four kids played games, then had cake, ice cream, and presents. James received a video game, ten Galleons spending money, and the _Lord of the Rings_ trilogy from his mother, the Pit Dragon trilogy by Jane Yolen from Jade, a Broomstick Servicing Kit from Hermione, _The Dark Arts Outsmarted_ from Neville, a box of chocolate from Remus, and a hat from the Drs. Granger. Jade received a box containing make-up, the books _The Hobbit _and _The Simarillion_, and ten Galleons spending money from her mother, the first three books in the Dragonriders of Pern series, a Broomstick Servicing Kit from Hermione, _Advanced Transfiguration_ from Neville, a box of stationery from the Dr. Grangers, and a box of chocolate from Remus. Sirius paid for tickets for the Quidditch match between the Holyhead Harpies and the Chudley Cannons, held on the thirty-first, as his present. The 'twins', their friends along with Fred, George, and Ginny, Mrs. North, and Remus would be attending.

Neville and Hermione spent the night. Sirius was moved to the living room to sleep, and a bunk bed was conjured in Jade's room for Hermione. After lunch, Neville Flooed home and Hermione went home as well.

July 30th was Neville's birthday, and he was allowed to have a party. His grandmother also allowed him to invite his friends to spend the night. Since Mrs. Longbottom oversaw everything and she was on the strict side, the party wasn't quite as fun as the 'twins' party had been. Ron was there, having returned from Egypt, and he looked incredibly freckled. He told the others all about his time in Egypt and described the pyramids that he had visited. Hermione was mildly jealous, for the ancient Egyptian wizards had been fascinating, and she was sure Ron had learned loads. 

James rolled his eyes when he heard that. Ron probably had learned a great deal, but he focused more on all the fun he had rather than what he learned. 

After cake was the presents. Jade, James, and Hermione had each given Neville a plant. He set one of the potted plants on his windowsill, while the other two he transplanted in his greenhouse that evening. Ron had gotten Neville a scarab beetle pendant and a book on plants the ancient Egyptian wizards had used in their potions and things. Neville appreciated the presents his friends had given him more than the presents his relatives had sent. Considering that some of them had been clothes, James had to agree.

The next day was the Quidditch match. Ron supported the Chudley Cannons, and for his sake and because they didn't really know much about the different teams, James and Neville supported the Cannons as well. Ron's sister, Ginny, supported the Holyhead Harpies, and Jade and Hermione did the same. The two had read about the teams in _Quidditch Through the Ages_, and knew that the Harpies was an all-female team. Since Jade and Hermione liked women proving that they were the equals of men, it was natural that they should support the team.

James was not so certain about supporting the Cannons. The team wasn't that great, and hadn't won the League since 1892. The motto had orginally been "We shall conquer" but had been changed in 1972 to "Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best." If he had to pick a team to support, James would probably pick one like Puddlemere United or Appleby Arrows. However, since the match didn't involve them, he would support the Cannons, mainly fo Ron's sake.

The match lasted for an hour and a half, and the Holyhead Harpies ended up winning, three hundred and sixty points to one hundred and thirty. Ron was disappointed that his favorite team had lost, while Ginny cheered loudly with the other Harpies supporters. When it was time to leave, James invited Ron to visit tomorrow, and asked him to bring Scabbers with him.

Ron did bring Scabbers with him the next day, but mentioned that the rat looked peaky. Mrs. North placed Scabbers in a cage charmed so that he couldn't escape nor transform and headed for the Ministry to clear Sirius's name. In the meantime, James and Jade explained how Sirius was innocent, that Peter Pettigrew was the one that betrayed the Potters and then spent the next eleven years masquerading as a rat. Ron was very horrified when he heard this.

"You mean my pet rat is a murderer?" he demanded. "Ugh! And I actually let him sleep in my bed!"

Once he had gotten over his revulsion, Sirius was introduced. Ronchatted with Sirius for a few minutes, then turned to James and Jade and demanded why they hadn't told him about Sirius earlier.

"Well, we didn't want to take the change that Wormtail would find out and escape again," answered Jade. "I mean, what if he read your notebook while we were writing in it to you? Then Sirius's name wouldn't be cleared."

Four hours later, Mrs. North returned home, looking tired, but happy. "Well, I took Wormtail to Amelia Bones, my head, and used magic to force him to human form. Amelia was very surprised, and after some questioning under Veritserum, proved to her satisfaction that Sirius is innocent and Wormtail was the one responsible for the crimes. It took longer to convince Fudge, but in the end he accepted that Wormtail was the guilty one. Currently the rat is in a cell in Azkaban awaiting trial, which will be held in a couple of weeks. You are pardoned, Sirius, and will come with me tomorrow to the Ministry for the final papers to be signed. You will also have to register as an Animagus, and a sum of money will be given to you to make up for your imprisonment."

James and Jade cheered loudly. Hermione didn't cheer, but she was grinning hugely and impulsively hugged Sirius. Then she went home to tell her parents the news. Everyone was much too excited to eat much of dinner. 

After dinner, Jade found her notebook and wrote the news to Ron and Neville, so they wouldn't have to read tomorrow's edition of the _Daily Prophet_ to learn about it. 

The next morning, Sirius went to the Ministry with Mrs. North. Papers were assigned, officially declaring Sirius to be a free man. Cornelius Fudge himself apologized for the mistake of his predecessor, and awarded Sirius an Order of Merlin, Second Class, and informed him that a sum of fifty thousand Galleons would be transferred to his account at Gringotts. Sirius politely thanked the Minister, though he privately didn't think much of it. He knew Fudge was only doing this because of his image.

When Sirius left the Ministry, he had to fend off reporters. All that he would tell them was that he was planning to take part in the search for Harry Potter, who was his godson. Everything else he replied with a "No comment," and then he left for Diagon Alley to purchase a new wand.

Mrs. North had to deal with reporters when she got off from work. They all wanted to know how she came up with the idea of Portkeying Sirius to her home and questioning him under Veritserum. She refused to answer any questions, and actually had to threaten one reporter, Rita Skeeter, before Rita would back off.

For the next week, the entire wizarding world was in an uproar over this, and the search for Harry Potter faded into the background. (Though the search still continued, of course.) 

Authors' Note: Sirius had to tell the wizarding world that he was going to search for Harry Potter, otherwise Dumbledore would get suspicious. So Sirius will make a show about being concerned as to where Harry could be and appear as if he's doing some searching, but eventually he'll 'give up.' 

Review reply:

**Alejandro**- Voldemort wasn't paying attention at all to any connections he might have with James's scar. After all, he wasn't aware of the connection until the fifth book in canon. That's why he doesn't know about the connection now, and therefore has no reason to suspect that James is really Harry Potter.


	3. The Diary

Two days after Sirius's name had been cleared, something odd happened. Remus and Mrs. North were at work, and Sirius had gone to London to check on the family home. Jade and James had elected not to go with him and were at home with their friends, who had come to visit. Ron, who hadn't done much of his homework while in Egypt, was working on his History of Magic essay with help from the 'twins'. They had already finished their homework the first week of holiday because they didn't have much else to do when they were grounded.

There was a crack and tiny being appeared in the living room. He had large, bat-like ears, bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls, and wore a filthy pillowcase. Since they had all seen house-elves before, they recognized what the being was. However, he certainly wasn't one of the three Longbottom house-elves. The two male house-elves wore clean tea towels neatly draped in togas and the female house-elf in a pillowcase altered to look like the outfit ancient Roman women wore.

"Hello," said Jade politely when she had recovered from her shock. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"Dobby, miss," responded the elf. "Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf. I is here to warn you."

They all exchanged puzzled looks. "Warn us?" asked James, one eyebrow raised.

Dobby bowed deeply. "Yes, sir. Dobby is hearing from Master about James and Jade. They is saving a powerful object from being taken by He-Who-Not-Must-Be Named. They is almost as great as Harry Potter. So Dobby must warn them."

"Well, why don't you sit down, Dobby, and tell us about it?" asked Hermione gently. 

To their surprise, the elf burst into tears - very noisy tears. "S-sit down!" he wailed. "Never ... never ever ..." 

"I'm sorry!" exclaimed Hermione. "I didn't mean to be rude!"

"Offend Dobby!" choked the elf. "Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a witch or wizard - like an equal -" 

"But who said you weren't equal?" asked Neville. "I guess you can't have met many decent wizards then."

Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he leapt up and started banging his head furiously on the window, shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" 

"Stop that!" exclaimed Jade, springing up and dragging him away from the window. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," said the elf, which had gone slightly cross-eyes. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir ..." 

"Do they know you're here?" asked James curiously 

Dobby shuddered. "Oh no, sir, no ... Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir -" 

"But won't they notice if you shut your ears in the oven door?" asked Ron.

"Dobby doubts it, sir. Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get on with it, sir. Sometimes they reminds me to do extra punishments ..." 

"But why don't you leave? Escape?" asked James.

"A house-elf must be set free, sir. And the family will never set Dobby free ... Dobby will serve the family until he dies, sir ..." 

Hermione looked horrified by this time, while the rest looked indignant. "How come your family treats you like that?" demanded Ron. "Neville here and his grandmother don't treat their house-elves like that. They're nice to them."

"Not all wizards are alike," responded Dobby carefully.

"Well, what family do you serve?" asked Jade. "That is, if you can tell us, Dobby."

"Dobby is serving the Malfoy family," answered Dobby.

They all exchanged looks. If the Malfoys were Dobby's masters, no wonder he was treated horribly. "There should be laws on how house-elves can be treated," snapped Hermione. "They can't be abused like this. It's worse than how the slaves were treated in the States. At least they didn't have to punish themselves, and they didn't have to work on Sundays and Christmas."

"Hermione, that only applied to the field-slaves," said Jade. "The slaves that worked in their master's house wouldn't necessarily get Christmas and Sundays off. They'd still have kitchen work, and if there were guests, they'd have to help attend to them."

"Whatever," said Hermione. "Anyway, there really should be laws regarding the treatment of house-elves. They should all be treated the way the Longbottoms treat theirs."

"I'll tell Mum and have her suggest such a law," said James. "Now, Dobby, could you please tell us what you're warning us about?"

Dobby twisted his ears. "There is a plot, James North. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. 

"Dobby has known it for months, sir. James is almost as great as Harry Potter and must not put himself in peril."

"What terrible things?"asked Jamesat once. "Who's plotting them?" 

Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head madly against the wall. 

"Stop that!" exclaimed Jade, pulling Dobby away. "Since you're a guest in my house, I forbid you from punishing yourself! Or at least, don't punish yourself until you return to your house, if you feel that you deserve punishment. Dobby."

"Dobby, I have an idea," said Hermione. "We will ask you yes-and-no questions. You will nod or shake your head without having to say anything and risk betraying your master's secrets that way, all right?"

Dobby nodded and Ron asked, "Is the plot something Mr. Malfoy planned?" Dobby nodded again.

"Does it involve Moldyshorts?" asked Neville. "I mean, You-Know-Who," he clarified, since Dobby wouldn't know the nickname. The elf hesitated, then both nodded and shook his head.

"So it involves and doesn't involve You-Know-Who at the same time," said Ron. "This doesn't make any sense."

Jade looked thoughtful. "Does it involve You-Know-Who before he became the Dark Lord?" she asked. There was a nod.

"Ah," said Hermione. "That would explain how it can involve and not involve You-Know-Who at the same time. What would Mr. Malfoy do to make such a plot start? Dobby, would he slip someone an object that would start the plot?" Dobby nodded.

"Who would he slip it to?" asked James. "Is it someone in this room?" Dobby nodded and looked at James andthen Jade, eyes wide. "So he plans to slip it to either me or Jade somehow. Or have Draco be the one to slip it."

Dobby nodded fervently and at a sound at the door, gasped, "I must go!" and disappeared with a crack.

Sirius Black entered through the front door and strode down the hall to the living room. He didn't notice the looks on the faces of the five preteens as he sat down and began talking about the Black family home. A great deal of work would be needed to make the place livable, and Kreacher, the family elf, hadn't done much in the way of cleaning for many years. Also, the portrait of Mrs. Black, Sirius's mother, was there, and couldn't be taken off due to a Permanent Sticking Charm on it. When she'd seen Sirius, she had gone off into a rant about how he was a disgrace to the family and only shut up when he thought of using a Silencing Charm.

Finally Sirius left to get something to eat from the kitchen and the kids went upstairs. They crowded into Jade's room and exchanged looks. "What do we do?" asked Neville.

"I guess we just have to be on the lookout for anything unusual that appears among James's or my belongings," replied Jade.

"With Dobby's warning, at least we have some idea of what's going to happen and can try to prevent it," said James. "Should we tell someone? Like Mum or Sirius? They could have some insight into this."

"I think we should," answered Hermione firmly. "Aunt Sylvia might have some ideas. And if she doesn't, Remus or Sirius could."

"We didn't tell Mrs. North, I mean Aunt Sylvia, about the Philosopher's Stone," pointed out Ron. Mrs. North had asked him and Neville to call her "Aunt Sylvia" like Hermione did, but they still had a little trouble adjusting to not saying "Mrs. North."

"That was because Mum would have forbidden us from having anything more to do with it," said James. "This is different. The plot Dobby warned us about involves us, and Mum does have a right to know about it."

"Well, let's just tell Sirius about it first," said Neville. "He's here right now, and might have advice. And he said that his cousin Narcissa married Lucius Malfoy, so he could have insights on the Malfoy family."

Sirius did not react very well when the kids told him about Dobby's warning. The first he thing he did was rant on how evil and terrible a person Malfoy Sr. was. Then he ordered James and Jade to keep a close watch and try to avoid getting in a situation where Lucius or Draco could slip something to them. Finally he told the kids to go amuse themselves and he went to contact Dumbledore and tell the Headmaster that a plot was planned for Hogwarts.

Neither Remus nor Mrs. North had any real advice at dinnertime. They just told James and Jade to be careful and said they would look into things. After dinner, Mrs. North and Sirius disappeared upstairs to talk. The twins exchanged looks. "I think Mum might be interested in Sirius," said Jade. "She hasn't been interested in men since Dad died, and told us that he was her one true love. But ever since Sirius has been here, she's been spending much of her free time alone with him."

"That doesn't mean they'll start dating or anything," replied James. "Don't hold your breath on waiting for an announcement that Sirius is going to be your stepfather and my adopted father, Jade."

"I won't," said Jade defensively. "I was just saying it was a possibility. Mum's only nine months older than Sirius, after all. I wouldn't mind if Sirius did become my stepfather, and would you really mind if he was your adopted father?"

James had to admit that he wouldn't mind, but then he quickly changed the subject to Dobby's warning.

The next week, Ron invited his friends to spend two weeks at his home, the Burrow. Neville was not allowed to do so, but his grandmother did give him permission to Floo over every day and spend several hours with his friends.

James shared Ron's room, which was completely orange and covered with posters of the Chudley Cannons. He wasn't very enthusiastic with the scheme, but didn't say anything about it. Jade and Hermione shared a room with Ginny. They had gotten to know the youngest Weasley at the Quidditch match, and soon became good friends with her. 

Mrs. Weasley was a very motherly and kind person, except for the one time when she lost her temper at something Fred and George did and shouted at them. Though the twins were taller than her, they were thoroughly cowed during the lecture. She forced large second and third helpings on the 'twins' and Hermione at mealtimes, and fussed over them, even though she didn't have to.

Mr. Weasley was fascinated with Muggles, and like to have Hermione, Jade, or James sit next to him at mealtimes so he could pepper them with questions about Muggles. They did their best to explain things like plugs, television, elevators, and telephones.

Ron lent Neville his old Shooting Star and they all spent an hour each day teaching Neville to fly. After a week, Neville had lost his fear and could fly, though not very well. His flying skills were on the level of Hermione, who wasn't that keen about flying either.

Fred and George were reluctant to allow Ginny to join them in flying, because they had never let her joing them before and thought that she might not be that good, However, she flew excellently on the Nimbus Two Thousand Jade lent her and turned out to be a fantastic chaser. The twins and Ron were surprised and impressed. Later, Ginny confided to Hermione and Jade that she had been breaking into the broomshed since the age of six and had taken each of the brooms out in turn when her brothers weren't looking.

A week into the visit, Luna Lovegood was introduced. She had her father lived on the other side of Ottery St. Catchpole, in a house that was shaped like a chess rook. Her mother had died when she was nine, due to a spell that Mrs. Lovegood had been experimenting with having gone awry. Luna was a very nice girl with decidedly, well, unique ideas. Her father edited a magazine known as _The Quibbler_, and much of the stuff printed in it was not something most people would accept as truth. It was essentially like a Muggle tabloid. Luna seemed to believe the things her father printed, and often would say something odd or mention one of the strange creatures that she believed existed.

Hermione, who was a logical person, obviously was at odds with Luna, who took things on faith. However, Hermione did not ridicule the other girl's beliefs, and did her best to be tactful. James privately thought Luna was weird, but since he also thought that she was a nice girl with an ability to sometimes say wise truths, he was friendly to her. Jade was also friendly to her.

On the 12th was Ginny's eleventh birthday and a small celebration was held. James and Jade got Ginny some Muggle fiction books that they liked and felt that she would enjoy reading as well. 

After two weeks, the Hogwarts letters arrived. James and Jade went home, but a time was arranged for them all to go to Diagon Alley to purchase school supplies. Jade made a face when he discovered that most of the booklist consisted of books written by Gilderoy Lockhart. He knew that Mrs. Weasley liked the author, but he wasn't that interested. 

Mrs. North tsked when she saw the list. "Lockhart books are expensive. I feel sorry for the Weasleys, because they have to buy five sets. If they're lucky, they might be able to get some of them second-hand. Oh, and James, I'm taking you for a meeting with the goblins when we go to Diagon Alley. Goblins keep out of wizarding business, so it is quite safe to reveal to them, or at least to one goblin, that you are Harry Potter, and swear them to secrecy. They can do a blood test to prove who you are and you can find out what your parents' left you and everything."

On Wednesday, they Flooed to Diagon Alley. Harry was not comfortable with this method of travel. When he tumbled out the fireplace at the other end, his glasses broke and hade to be magically repaired by his mother. At Gringotts, the Weasleys and Longbottoms went down to their vaults, the Grangers went to the desk to exchange their pounds for Galleons, and the Norths and Sirius met with a goblin named Griphook.

After swearing Griphook to secrecy, James removed his Glamour and revealed who he really was. A blood test confirmed this and Griphook revealed that James had inherited a trust fund that his parents had set up, the Potter family vault, a property in Godric's Hallow that his parents had lived in before their deaths, and a property that was the Potter ancestral home. James could access the vault containing the trust fund, but he could not withdraw anything from the Potter vault until he turned of age or was emancipated.

The key to the trust fund was handed over and Mrs. North ascertained that Dumbledore nor anyone else was keeping track of it. (There wasn't.) Then they went down to the vault. James couldn't help gaping at the sheer amount of money in it. There was more than enough to pay for his and his sister's supplies for the next six years, with plenty left over for spending money. Mrs. North gave James permission to withdraw some money to use for spending money. He took out enough for him and Jade and then they all went to the North vault, which Mrs. North had set up after she'd started working for the Ministry.

There was considerably less money in there. After sweeping the two small piles of Sickles and Knuts and fifty of the Galleons into a bag, they left. James and Jade caught up with their friends and told them about the meeting. Ron was awed when he heard how much money was in James's trust fund. 

"It's nothing," said James, embarrassed. "Mum won't let me spend too much of it at once, anyway. Let's go to Florean Fortescue's. I'm in the mood for an ice cream cone." He treated everyone to cones, and after, the five went to buy parchment and ink.

Next was the books. Flourish and Blotts was unusually crowded and it was due to Gilderoy Lockhart signing copies of his autobiography, _Magical Me_, there. Hermione looked excited, while Jade and James rolled their eyes.

While waiting in line for books, Lockhart spotted the Norths and Sirius. He instantly pulled them over and had the _Daily Prophet_ photographer take a picture of him with them. Then he shook Sirius's hand and blathered on about a 'miscarriage of justice' and how Sirius was wonderful for surviving Azkaban and escaping. Then Lockhart turned to the Norths and congratulated on how they proved Sirius's innocence. He capped it off by giving the four of them free copies of all his works.

Mrs. North and Sirius, faces sour, took the books and then handed them to Ginny and Ron. Mrs. North cut off their protests by saying, "Sirius and I have no need for them, since we're not the ones attending Hogwarts, so you two might as well take them. You'll get use out of them, for this year anyway, and it'll save your parents money."

Jade and James looked at the pile of books in their arms, then at each other. Without saying anything, they knew that they had the same idea in mind. The two walked over to Fred and George and handed the books to them. George opened his mouth to protest, but Jade cut him off. "We really don't want to accept anything from that idiotic poser. We'd much rather buy our own. So just take this gift from us. It can be a really early Christmas present, or a very belated birthday one. Okay?"

Fred and George thanked the two and went to find their parents. Draco Malfoy turned up at this point and made a comment on how Jade and James couldn't seem to go anywhere now without having a big deal about it. "You must think you're so great, what with helping your mother prove that Sirius Black is innocent. Next thing you know, you'll be the next Harry Potter."

"Well, we weren't best friends with a fake Harry Potter and not know for almost ten months," retorted Jade.

Draco turned slightly pink just as his father walked over. "Now, now, Draco, remember your manners," said Mr. Malfoy. "Come along. You don't want to spend too long in the presence of those beneath us."

Draco pushed rudely into Jade as he made to follow his father. Jade knocked into James and the two fell down. Their books scattered on the floor. Mr. Malfoy tsked, bent down, picked up a few books, and handed them to James. Unbeknownst to him, when Draco had knocked into Jade, he had dropped something his father had given him earlier, with instructions to find a way to plant it with Jade or James. Among the books that Mr. Malfoy picked up was the object Draco had dropped.

After all the books had been gathered up, Draco and his father left. Jade and James exchanged looks. "I bet they slipped something among our things," whispered James. "Either when Malfoy knocked into you or when his father picked up some of our books. We're going to have to go through our things later." Jade nodded in agreement.

After all the books had been paid before, Sirius insisted on buying Ron an owl, saying that it was to make up for his no longer having a pet. Ron finally picked out a tawny owl. Ginny happened to mention that she though Pigwidgeon was a cute name. Unfortunately, the owl heard and assumed that it was his name. He refused to answer to anything else, to Ron's annoyance. In the end, he began calling the owl "Pig" for short.

That evening, James and Jade went through their school supplies. Among his Lockhart books, James found a very old diary. It was blank, with the name "T. M. Riddle" in the inside cover. The back cover had the printed name of a news agent's in Vauxhall Road, London. Riddle must have been Muggleborn, if he had bought a diary from Vauxhall Road.

Jade examined the diary, then the two brought it to their mother, Sirius, and Remus. They examined the book thoroughly as well. However, the diary was apparently blank. Even the use of "Aparecium!" and Revealer showed no writing.

"Apparently this Riddle guy got this diary for a present and didn't bother writing in it," said Sirius.

"Then why did Draco or his father slip the diary among our stuff?" demanded James.

"It must be of some importance," said Remus thoughtfully. "I remember that T. M. Riddle won an award for special services to Hogwarts about fifty years ago. I had to do a detention polishing the trophies in the trophy room, so I saw the award."

Mrs. North frowned, "You said that Dobby said it involves Voldemort before he became Voldemort, Jade. So what if this T. M. Riddle was Voldemort while he was at school? It makes sense, since Voldemort could hardly be someone's real name."

"But what does this diary have to do with a plot?" asked Jade. "It's blank, and there's no writing hidden."

"Try writing in it," suggested Sirius. "Maybe that will have some affect."

Jade hesitated, then grabbed a pen and began writing.

"_August 21st, 1992_

_Dear Diary,_

_My name is Janet Stella Nelson. I am twelve years old. A friend of my brother's found this empty diary lying around his home, and as he nor my brother have any use for a diary, they gave it to me to write in._"

The words faded, like in the notebook Neville had gotten her. A few seconds later, writing appeared.

"_**Hello, Janet. My name is Tom Riddle, the former owner of this diary. I didn't write in it, but I did do a spell to perserve my memories in it. Who is this friend of your brother's**_?"

Jade looked at the others, who nodded for her to write a reply. She picked up the pen again and wrote.

"_That would be Draco Malfoy. His father is Lucius Malfoy. Have you heard of them, Tom_?"

"**_I haven't heard of those names, except for the last name. A person named Abraxas Malfoy was at Hogwarts with me, though. He was two years above me. What can you tell me about Lucius_**?"

Jade looked at the adults. Sirius said, "Abraxas Malfoy was Lucius Malfoy's father." She nodded and hurriedly wrote her reply.

"_Lucius is Abraxas Malfoy's son. So that means that my brother is friends with the grandson of the person you knew._"

"**_I see. Who is your brother, Janet?_**"

"_His name is Jason Harvey. We're twins. I'm friendly with Draco, of course, but Jason is the one that's really friends with him. I normally spend much of the time with the other girls in my dorm._"

"Why did you have to pick Harvey for my middle name?" asked James. "I really don't like that name."

Jade simply gave him a Look, before returning her attention back to the diary.

"**_That's nice. I take it that you're in Slytherin then, since the Malfoys have always gone in that house?_**"

"_Yes. Oh, my mother says that I have to go to bed now, Tom. I'll write to you later._"

Jade shut the diary and looked up at the other four. "I don't think you should write in the diary anymore," said Mrs. North. "The spell that allows you to preserve memories is bordering on Dark Magic. And I have a feeling that there's more magic on this diary, though I can't figure out what. You are going to hand this diary in to Dumbledore and have him deal with this."

"Okay, Mum," replied Jade. She put the diary in her trunk and then she and James went to bed.


	4. Return to Hogwarts

James couldn't stop thinking about the diary. He knew that the diary was dangerous, but it contained what Voldemort was like as a student at Hogwarts with the name Tom Riddle. He couldn't help being curious about what Riddle was like. A part of him wanted to take the diary from Jade's trunk and write to Riddle. However, James stifled the impulse, reminding himself that it was dangerous and the memories of Riddle could try to possess him or something.

He and Jade spent the last two weeks before school started reading a book their mother had gotten them on Occulemency and practicing setting up a wall in thier mind so nobody could see their thoughts. Dumbledore was certain to be suspicious of James ever since the events at the end of last term, and they didn't want anyone probing into their minds to find the truth. Sirius had some skill with Legilimency and Remus was a natural Occulemens, being a werewolf, and they helped the twins learn. By the end of August, Jade was able to create a mind-wall that blocked Sirius was seeing her thoughts, though a stronger Legilimens could probably breach it. She would just have to keep on practicing to produce a stronger wall.

James created a mind-wall as well, but with sufficent battering, Sirius could get past the wall. He definitely needed much more practice to produce a mind-wall that could withstand battering and not allow anyone to see his thoughts.

September first arrived and it was time to leave for Hogwarts. At Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Mrs. North reminded Jade again to hand the diary in to Dumbledore. Jade promised she would and she and James hugged their mother. They then hugged Sirius and Remus and promised to write.

The 'twins' then went to the end compartment with Hermione, Neville, and Luna. Ginny appeared one minute before the train was due to leave and Ron showed up half a minute later. Ginny explained that they had been running late that morning, because Fred had forgotten to pack his broom and George had forgotten a box of fireworks.

Nobody spoke to Luna for about twenty minutes, because she was immersed in a copy of _The Quibbler_. When she finally set the magazine down, James asked, "What house do you want to get Sorted in, Luna?"

"I want to be in either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor," she responded happily. James nodded, feeling that Luna could fit into either one of those two houses.

Ginny expressed her wish to be in Gryffindor. Hermione was just about to ask about the diary when Luna suddenly looked at James. Luna stared intently at him, then in a matter-of-fact tone of voice said, "You're not who you seem, James."

Everyone stared at her. "I've thought this ever since I've met you, James, but never said anything before."

"I'm just James North," said James, starting to feel uncomfortable. While he was friendly with Luna and thought that she could be trusted, he didn't want to tell her the truth just yet.

"Perhaps, but you're not really Jade's twin," said Luna in a dreamy tone.

James sighed, and after exchanging a look with Jade, told Luna and Ginny the truth. Luna looked unfazed by this, while Ginny was greatly surprised. Both girls promised to keep it a secret.

At half past twelve, the witch with the food trolley arrived and James and Jade bought enough food for everyone. The seven of them enjoyed the food and chattered, most of it involving the five older ones telling Ginny and Luna all about Hogwarts. Ginny appeared relieved when Neville told about the Sorting Hat.

After a few hours, they changed into their robes, and an hour after that, the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmeade Station. They disembarked. Ginny and Luna went to where Hagrid was calling the first years over, while the others headed for the carriages. James assumed that invisible horses pulled them and was surprised when Neville asked, "What are those creatures pulling the carriages?"

"There's nothing pulling the carriages," said Ron, confused. "Or if there are, they're invisible."

Jade sighed rather loudly. "Don't you read? The creatues pulling the carriages are winged horses known as thestrals. They're invisible to people unless you've seen someone die. So I suppose you saw someone die, Neville."

Neville nodded. "I saw my grandfather die," he said quietly.

The others fell silent as they climbed into a carriage and set off on their way for the castle.

In the Great Hall, the five of them sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited for the Sorting to begin. James looked at the staff table and saw Dumbledore and Snape looking at him. He instantly felt a probe in his mind and he quickly focused his thoughts on the Sorting before creating the mind-wall. He then averted his gaze to see McGonagall leading the first years in. Next to him, Jade waved to Ginny and Luna, who waved back.

Professor McGonagall set a stool and the Sorting Hat in front of the staff table. After a moment of silence, the Sorting Hat began singing.

_I welcome you, new students all_

_I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_You now stand in the Great Hall_

_Waiting for me to Sort you._

_Four people chose to come here_

_For they had a need in mind_

_And this is the place where_

_They set up a school of magic._

_Gryffindors are brave and true_

_As well as noble and courageous_

_And perhaps that is where you_

_Will find yourself Sorted in._

_Ravenclaws are clever and wise_

_And their minds are full of wit_

_Perhaps what you will realize_

_Is that it's the best house for you._

_Hufflepuffs are not afraid of work_

_And they are just and loyal_

_You will never see them shirk._

_For they are patient and true._

_Slytherins have much ambition_

_And they are quite cunning_

_They like to cling to tradition_

_So maybe you will end up there._

_These four houses are great_

_And together quite strong._

_So step up, don't be late_

_When it's time to sort you._

Everyone clapped when the Sorting Hat was done singing. Then McGonagall unrolled a scroll and called the first name. James's attention drifted and he only noticed when a boy named Colin Creevy was Sorted into Gryffindor. The very excited boy jumped up and ran for the Gryffindor table, forgetting that he was still wearing the Hat. Professor McGonagall had to call him back and he ran back to return the Hat amid laughter.

James also paid attention when it was Luna's turn. After half a minute, the Sorting Hat declared her a Ravenclaw. The Ravenclaw table clapped politely as Luna joined them. James was disappointed that she wasn't in Gryffindor, but he knew that Ravenclaw was a good house and did suit the her.

The last name to be called was Ginny's and she was Sorted into Gryffindor. Fred and George cheered, Percy said pompously, "Well done, Ginny," and Ron grinned and clapped her back as she headed for the empty seat next to Jade.

The feast began shortly after. After dessert, Professor Dumbledore introduced Lockhart as the new Defence Against Dark Arts teacher. Then he announced when Quidditch tryouts started, that the forest on the grounds was forbidden for students to enter, magic was not allowed in the corridor, and that the list of banned objects had expanded. Last was the singing of the school song and after, everyone was sent off to bed.

James felt tired and so he went to bed not long after arriving at the dorm room.

Authors' Note: Sorry if the song the Sorting Hat sung isn't that great. We decided to write out a song, but while there was a rhyme scheme, we weren't that sure about the lyrics. If you have any ideas about the kids finding out about the Chamber of Secrets without involving students being petrified, please include it in a review or PM. Thank you. Dumbledore was trying to read James's mind, but didn't catch anything more than James's thoughts on the Sorting. After a couple of minutes, Dumbledore gave up.


	5. Gilderoy Lockhart

James woke up early the next morning and wrote a letter to his mother. Then he wrote another one to Sirius and Remus. After, he got ready for his day and then headed downstairs for breakfast. He arrived at the Great Hall the same time as Luna. "Good morning, Luna," he said, smiling. "How are you?"

"Hello, James," responded Luna, smiling serenely. "I'm fine." She then headed for the Ravenclaw table. One of her dormmates stuck out a foot and Luna tripped over it and fell.

James helped her up, then looked at the other girl. "That wasn't nice, whatever your name is."

"It's Agatha Harper," said the girl coldly. "And she deserves it, what with her crazy theories and her father being the editor of a rubbish magazine."

James felt a flare of anger. The thing he hated the most was teasing and bullying, and he especially hated it when it was directed at a friend. "Just because Luna's different and has some unique ideas doesn't mean you can be mean to her!"

Agatha glared at him. "Mind your own business, whoever you are. She's loony, and I'll treat her how I want."

The girl next to Agatha let out a shriek of laughter. "That's perfect, Agatha! She's Loony Lovegood!"

"Her name is Luna," said Jade coldly, having arrived just after James and heard everything. "I would like you to leave Luna alone and not tease her or call her names, Agatha. How would you like it if I called you 'Hagatha'?"

Agatha turned red, but glared at Jade and snapped, "Shut up and keep your nose out of other people's business, four-eyes."

Jade merely raised a brow. "Not very inventive, since I was called that in primary school and was never bothered by it."

Agatha's friend nudged Agatha and whispered, "Let's just eat our breakfast and ignore this, Agatha."

The two girls turned their attention back to their breakfast and Luna found a seat at the other end of the Ravenclaw table. James and Jade sat down at the Gryffindor table, still annoyed by what had happened. When the others joined them, they explained what had happened. Hermione and Ginny looked indignant. Neville exclaimed, "That was mean! Just because Luna's a bit odd doesn't mean she has to teased or bullied." Ron glared at the direction of Agatha and her friend.

After breakfast the five of them went to the greenhouses for Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. Professor Sprout informed them that they would be working in Greenhouse Three today. There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in Greenhouse One before - Greenhouse Three housed far more interesting and dangerous plants.

Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt and unlocked the door. James caught a whiff of damp earth and fertilizer, mingled with the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrella-sized flowers dangling from the ceiling.

After all the students were gathered, Professor Sprout told them that they would be repotting mandrakes. Hermione and Neville won ten points each for Gryffindor by answering questions about mandrakes. After a demonstration on how to re-pot a mandrake, the class was told to get in groups of four and start working. James and Jade got together with Neville and a Hufflepuff girl named Susan Bones. Ron and Hermione worked with Dean and Seamus.

After Herbology was Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall's classes were always hard work, but today was especially difficult. Everything James had learned last year seemed to have leaked out of his head during the summer. He was supposed to be turning a beetle into a button, but all he managed to do was give his beetle a lot of exercise as it scuttled over the desk top avoiding his wand.

Jade and Hermione had no problems at all and in fact were able to Transfigure several beetles into perfect buttons. In fact, Jade produced a button of scarlet with a gold lion and another that was gray with an eagle made out of tiny blue sapphires. (Though the sapphires were probably fake.) Hermione also created a fancy button of gold studded with tiny rhinestones.

James remembered reading that in the olden days, it was fad among girls to collect buttons and make button-strings. Having fancy buttons made you the envy of the other girls, so the fancy buttons that Jade and Hermione had produced would have been perfect for a button-string.

By the end of class, neither James or Ron had managed to transfigure their beetles into buttons. Neville managed to do so after countless tries, but his button was just an ordinary one with the same color as the beetle. James couldn't help feeling envious and resolved to spend some more time working on Transfiguration.

At lunch, several Ravenclaws could be heard to refer to Luna as 'Loony'. Agatha and her friend, who turned out to be named Callie Sendats, were the meanest of the group. They really didn't want to be dorm and housemates with someone that was so weird, and made several unflattering remarks about Luna. None of the Ravenclaws seemed willing to stand up for Luna, except for an Asian girl who turned out to one of the first years.

After several comments, the girl slammed the book she was reading down on the table and snapped, "Be quiet! It's rude to make fun of others, and all those remarks about Luna are disturbing my reading. Just because Luna's different from most people doesn't give you the right to tease her. Didn't you ever learn to be polite to others?"

"I don't have to be polite to someone that's loony, Mariko," retorted Callie.

Mariko muttered something in Japanese, then said in a level voice, "I thought children were taught to be polite to everyone, regardless of their behavior or ideas. At least, Japanese children are taught that. Surely British children can't be any different."

"Are you insuinating that British children aren't properly brought up?" demanded an older boy.

"No," answered Mariko. "I'm just saying that you should all be nice to Luna."

"I'm not being nice to a crazy girl," snapped Agatha. "And you're just as crazy for taking Loony's side."

At that, Mariko completely lost her temper. "If you're going to be like this, then I don't want to sit at the same table of someone that's so prejudiced! I've lost my appetite anyway." She grabbed her things and strode angrily out the Great Hall.

Jade got up and persuaded Luna to join the Gryffindor table. There was nothing in the rules that said you had to sit at your own house table, and the Founders had encouraged mixing of the houses when they'd first started Hogwarts. None of the Gryffindors objected, though some of the Ravenclaws, namely Agatha and Callie, glared at Luna.

After lunch was Defence Against Dark Arts, which turned out not to be a good class. Lockhart began the lesson with a quiz that was entirely devoted to himself. It asked things like his favorite colour and what his ideal birthday gift would be. James was completely disgusted with it. Though he could answer most of them, since he had read the books thoroughly, he decided not to. Instead he put down nonsense answers, like Lockhart's greatest ambition was to acquire brains and that his idea birthday gift was acquiring enough magic to do all the deeds he claimed to have done in his books.

When Lockhart collected the quizzes, he went through them and shook his head. Only Hermione had answered all the questions correctly and she was awarded ten points.

Next, Lockhart revealed a cageful of pixies and set them loose. However, he couldn't deal with them at all the result was complete pandemonium. One of the pixies tossed Lockhart's wand out the window, while another two grabbed Neville by the ears and left hanging on the chandelier. The rest set to destroy the classroom. As the bell rang, students scrambled to escape. Jade, James, Ron, and Hermione stayed back to help Neville and ended up being told by Lockhart to deal with the pixies. After James carefully levitated Neville to the ground, Jade and Hermione did a Freezing Charm on the pixies and the others helped them stuff the pixies back in the cage.

Hermione was not convinced that Lockhart was a fraud, but the rest were. Ron and Hermione argued over this all the way down to dinner.


	6. Quidditch Practice

Authors' Note: It has been pointed out to us by a reviewer that Jade is starting to become Mary-Sueish. We apologize, because that was never out intention. She does have some flaws. She has a temper (and it can't be blamed on red hair, because she's a brunette), isn't good at chess, and if Neville didn't help her in Herbology, she wouldn't be doing so well in that class. We're trying to come up with some other flaws for Jade, because we really don't want to create this perfect character that gets on everyone's nerves. She's just smart like Hermione, which is why she can figure things out quickly.

The next day, Jade turned in the diary to Dumbledore and explained everything. The Headmaster examined the diary for a few minutes, then said, "You are correct, Tom Riddle is Voldemort's birth name. I believe that Riddle must have enchanted this diary into some sort of Dark object. I will examine it further and then destroy it, Miss North."

"Thank you, Professor," responded Jade, sounding relieved. Just then, she felt a prickle in her mind. She quickly set up her mind-wall and lowered her eyes to make it harder for Dumbledore to try to read her thoughts. "May I go now, Professor?"

Dumbledore sighed and said, "Yes you may, Miss North. Come to me if you have any more concerns. Good day."

Jade made her escape. While she knew that Dumbledore was a kind person and trustworthy, she didn't want him finding out about James, at least not until James said so. She sighed and put her thoughts on her Herbology homework. That was the one class she had some trouble in and the only reason she had done so well on the exam last year was because of the help Neville gave her in studying for it.

On the way to the Room of Requirement, she came across Agatha and Callie teasing Luna. Jade had a temper, and she let it loose as she hurried over to rescue Luna. "Get away from Luna!" she shouted. "How dare you tease her!"

Agatha turned and snapped, "Mind your own business, Jade. We're free to do what we want to Loony."

"Not if I inform Professor Filtwick of your behavior, _Hagatha_," said a cold voice behind Jade. The four girls turned and saw Mariko standing there, a furious look on her face and several books piled in her arms.

"You wouldn't dare!" gasped Callie. "We'll make your life miserable and you'll wish you hadn't been Sorted into Ravenclaw."

"Really?" inquired Mariko, one elegant eyebrow raised. "I find that hard to believe. My younger brother has tried to make my life miserable for the past seven years and he hasn't succeeded, so I really doubt you and Agatha can. Now, I am warning you, if you keep bothering Luna like this, I will inform Professor Flitwick what is going on. You two will likely get detention. You'll definitely lose some points, but if you hadn't teased Luna in the first place, it wouldn't have happened."

"Mari, it's not necessary," said Luna in her normal tone of voice. "I can handle things."

"Ignoring what's going on hasn't stopped their teasing you," pointed out Mari acidly. "They just keep on doing it, so it's not like they're trying to get attention the way some people tease others. They need to be stopped."

Jade sighed. If Luna had been sorted into Gryffindor, there wouldn't be this problem. Luna and Ginny would be together in one dorm and become even better friends, and the rest could keep an eye on her. But with Luna in Ravenclaw, there was no way for her Gryffindor friends to look after her. Certainly Mariko was on Luna's side and willing to stand up her, but the other three girls weren't nice. In addition, Mariko didn't seem like she was really becoming Luna's friend. She was more the kind of person who hated teasing and injustice and defended Luna because of that.

"That's not going to make things better," pointed out Luna. "Do you really think they'll stop if Professor Flitwick punishes them? They'll just find new ways to make my life miserable and because you tattled on them, they'll do the same to you, Mari."

"I don't care!" answered Mari fiercely. "You're my friend and I'll defend you because that's what friends do! I don't care if you have rather - unique - beliefs. Nobody deserves to be treated badly because they're different from others."

Agatha and Callie looked disgusted and walked away. Mari glared at their retreating backs, then turned to Jade. "Hello, Jade. I'm Mariko Kitari, Mari for short. Luna told me about you and your friends. Apparently the five of you and Ginny are the only students in this school that are actually nice to Luna and see her as a friend, besides me. Well, there is Teresa Mills, the fifth girl in our dorm, but she could only be called is a fair-weather friend, because she's only nice to Luna whenever Agatha and Callie aren't around. When they're around, she just ignores Luna, or agrees with whatever those two say."

Jade shook her head. "I was teased, along with my brother James and best friend Hermione, in primary school, so I hate it whenever I see someone being teased."

"You're Muggleborn then?" asked Mari. "But I thought it was your mother that found out Sirius Black was innocent."

"My mother did, and it's my parents that are Muggleborn," replied Jade. "My father was killed in the war against Voldemort in his work as an Auror and Mum decided to leave the wizarding world until James and I were old enough to attend Hogwarts."

"Oh," said Mari, nodding. "Luna, why don't you come with me to the library and we can talk and do our work together?" Luna agreed and Mari said, "Well, see you, Jade. It was nice meeting you." Luna and Mari left.

In the Room of Requirement, Jade told her friends what had happened. They were pleased to hear that Dumbledore was taking care of the matter with the diary. They were indignant to hear that Agatha and Callie had been teasing Luna, but were happy that Luna had made a friend in her house.

After, Neville, Hermione, and Ron worked on Occulemency. As they were James and Jade's closest friends, it was possible that Dumbledore might try to use Legilimency on them and they didn't want to reveal that James was born Harry Potter. Jade did the teaching, while James was in a corner, working on Transfiguration. Two hours of practice had helped him regain his previous skill in Transfiguration and so far he had transformed a beetle into a blue button, a plastic bead into a ring, a cup of tea into a cup of apple juice, and a strawberry into a cherry.

During Potions class that week, James and Jade felt a pricking in their minds when they looked at Snape. The 'twins' quickly set up their mind-walls, focused their thoughts on Potions, and did their best to avoid Snape's gaze. It was apparent to them that Snape also knew Legilimency and Dumbledore had probably asked him to use it on Jade and James.

A first-year Gryffindor, Colin Creevy, heard about James and Jade saving the Philosopher's Stone from Voldemort via Ginny, and one day during break began asking them questions. Colin even went so far as to ask if he could take their picture. Jade looked very annoyed and was about to curtly refuse, but James, being polite, nudged his 'twin' and accepted. Colin eagerly took their picture and then went rushing off, probably to develop the film or something.

When the weekend arrived, James was looking forward to a relaxing two days. He and his friends planned to vist Hagrid and introduce him to Ginny, Luna, and Mari. However, he was woken up at around dawn by Wood, who informed him that he was to get dressed and meet the rest of the team in the locker rooms for the first practice of the year. James groaned as he got out of bed. He was a morning person, but on the weekends, he liked to sleep in, and so didn't enjoy being woken up so early.

After getting dressed, he left a note telling Ron and Neville where he was and then headed down to the locker rooms. The rest of the team were already there. Oliver Wood was the only one that appeared to be awake. Alicia was nodding off against the wall behind her. Angelina and Katie were yawning and James couldn't help yawning with them. _What is it about yawns that make them contagious?_ he wondered. He found himself wishing that he was a reserve like Jade, so he wouldn't have to be at this early-morning practice.

After James had changed into his Quidditch robes, Oliver Wood took out some diagrams he'd made over the summer and droned on for at least an hour on the traing program he'd made. The Chasers began nodding off and Fred and George were yawning and having a hard time keeping awake. James managed to stay awake, but there was a glazed look on his face that clearly said he wasn't paying much attention to what Wood was saying. He kept thinking about the breakfast he could be eating now in the Great Hall. He wished again that he was a reserve, or that Wood had forced Jade to show up as well so she could go through this also.

Finally Wood finished and asked if there were any questions. The others jerked awake and George said, "I have a question, Oliver. Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"

Wood was definitely not pleased with this question. "Get serious here! We need to win the Quidditch Cup again this year! If we didn't have a reserve Seeker and Jade wasn't so good, then we would have lost when James was in the Hospital Wing!"

James felt slightly guilty, but then reminded himself that the alternative was having Voldemort return to power and he definitely didn't want that. Wood seized his broomstick and led the way out onto the pitch.

Stiff-legged and still yawning, his team followed. They had been in the changing room so long that the sun was up properly now, although remnants of mist hung over the grass in the stadium. As James walked onto the pitch, he saw his friends and Jade sitting in the stands.

"Aren't you finished yet?" called Ron incredulously.

"Haven't even started," responded James, looking jealously at the toast and marmalade his friends had brought out of the Great Hall. "Wood's been teaching us new moves."

He mounted his broomstick and kicked off the ground, soaring up into the air. The cool morning air whipped his face, waking him far more effectively than Wood's long talk. It felt wonderful to be back on the Quidditch pitch. He soared right around the stadium at full speed, racing Fred and George.

"What's the funny clicking noise?" called Fred, as they hurtled around the corner.

James looked into the stands. Colin Creevy was sitting in one of the highest seats, his camera raised, and taking picture after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the deserted stadium.

"Who's that?" said Fred.

"A first-year Gryffindor named Colin," answered James.

"What's going on?" said Wood, frowning, as he skimmed through the air towards them. "Why's that first-year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program."

"He's in Gryffindor," said Fred.

"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver," said George.

"What makes you say that?" said Wood testily.

"Because they're here in person," said George, pointing.

Several people in green robes were walking onto the pitch, broomsticks in their hands.

"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed in outrage. "I booked the pitch for today! We'll see about this!"  
Wood shot towards the ground, landing rather harder than he meant to in his anger, staggering slightly as he dismounted. James, Fred and George followed.

"Flint!" Wood bellowed at the Slytherin captain. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. He had a look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."

Angelina, Alicia and Katie had come over, too. There were no girls on the Slytherin team - who stood, shoulder to shoulder, facing the Gryffindors, leering to a man. "But I booked the pitch!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"

"Ah," said Flint, "but I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. 'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch pitch, owing to the need to train their new Seeker.'"

"You've got a new Seeker?" said Wood, distracted. "Where?"  
And from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face.

It was Draco Malfoy.

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, looking at Malfoy with dislike.

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint, as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."

All seven of them held out broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words "Nimbus Two Thousand and One" gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early-morning sun.

"Very latest model. Only came out last month," said Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps," he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives, "sweeps the board with them."

None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything to say for a moment. Malfoy was smirking so broadly his cold eyes were reduced to slits.

"Oh look," said Flint. "A pitch invasion."  
Jade, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny were crossing the grass to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" Ron asked James. "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?"  
He was looking at Malfoy, taking in his Slytherin Quidditch robes.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," said Malfoy, smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."

Ron gaped open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him.  
"Good aren't they?" said Malfoy smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives, I expect a museum would bid for them."

The Slytherin team howled with laughter.

"Well, nobody on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in at least, Malfoy," snapped Jade, eyes flashing. "They got in simply on pure talent."

The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat.

There was an instant uproar at his words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him, Alicia shrieked, "How dare you!" and James began fumbling for his wand. Hermione and Ron reached for their wands as well, but Neville beat them to it. He pointed his wand under Flint's arm and as he had done in at the Quidditch match last year, turned Malfoy's hair pink. He also managed to turn Malfoy's robes frilly and pink as well, and topped it off by producing a pink bonnet with a lace edging and pink roses.

"Don't you ever call Jade by that horrible, filthy name again!" Neville shouted angrily.

Malfoy sputtered in shock when he realized what had been done to him and the Slytherin became busy trying to fix everything. The Gryffindor team laughed at what had happened and Fred and George congratulated Neville. A few minutes later, the practice broke up. After getting Ginny, Luna, and Mari, they went to visit Hagrid. The gamekeeper greeted the three first-year girls cheerfully and set out tea and cakes. The kids drank the tea, but didn't touch any of the cakes.

When Ron commented on what had happened to Malfoy, Neville turned scarlet and mumbled, "Malfoy shouldn't have called Jade that. It made me angry and I had to defend her."

James blinked and wondered if maybe Neville was beginning to have a crush on Jade. Then again, it was perfectly natural for someone to want to defend their friends. After all, Ron and Hermione had been taking out their wands when Neville had did that spell, and James had been doing the same. Also, Fred and George would have dived on Malfoy if Filch hadn't blocked them.

Hagrid was shocked to hear that Malfoy had called Jade a "Mudblood" and chuckled over what Neville had done to get back at him. After a few more minutes of conversation, Hagird led them outside and showed them the pumpkins he was growing. The pumpkins were quite big and when Hagrid mentioned that he'd been giving them a bit of help, Hermione said, "An Engorgement Charm, I suppose? Well, you've done a good job on them."

Hagrid thanked her and then the kids headed back to the castle for lunch. After lunch, James and Jade wrote to their mother about the entire Slytherin team getting new brooms. Mrs. North apparently mentioned this to Sirius, because on Monday, Dumbledore announced that Sirius Black was donating twenty-one Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones to the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff Quidditch teams. Those three houses cheered upon hearing this news, while the Slytherins looked sour. They no longer had an advantage with better brooms. Snape looked as if someone had fed him some foul-tasting potion and glared at James and Jade, because their mother was the one that proved Sirius's innocence. For the next week, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs kept thanking the 'twins' or asking them to thank Sirius for them.


	7. The End to the Search

By the time Halloween came around, things at Hogwarts were boring compared to last year. There were no mysteries to solve, and no troll (or any other creature for that matter) was let loose in the castle. James didn't mind at all, because he didn't want second year to be like first year. There was the saying "may you live in interesting times", which was more of a curse than a blessing, and it had applied to the previous school year.

At the end of September, Luna and Ginny introduced Matthew Lesley, a Ravenclaw first-year who was quite nice and didn't treat Luna the way some of the other Ravenclaws did. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was Muggleborn. In any case, Matt was very friendly and ended up spending a great deal of time with the girls and the second-year Gryffindors, because his dormmates didn't like the fact that he sided with Luna.

The day before the first Quidditch match, a letter arrived for James and Jade. They exchanged looks, for they didn't recognize the handwriting, and the return address was from somewhere in Canada. Jade looked closely at the name, then exclaimed, "The last name is Adams! Mum mentioned that we had an aunt and uncle in Canada with the last name of Adams. Remember, James? Dad had an older sister named Nicole who married David Adams, a teacher at the Toronto School of Magic. But why are they writing to us now? Mum hasn't heard from them in ages, except for the occasional Christmas or birthday card."

James shrugged. "How would I know why my adopted aunt and uncle are writing to us? Let's just read the letter."

_Dear Jade and James, _

_Hello. I'm your cousin Ryan Adams. Mum says I'm the same age as you two, twelve. I suppose you're wondering why I'm writing to you now when I haven't before. Well, Mum has never really spoken much about her side of the family. She's only said that her parents were Muggles and that she had a younger brother who died in the war against Voldemort. But a few days ago, my younger sister, Caitlin, pestered Mum with questions about the North family. She's five, so she could get away with it. Mum gave in and told us everything about Aunt Sylvia and our cousins Jade and James. So I'm writing in hopes of getting to know you better. Maybe we can be pen friends? You can tell me what Hogwarts is like and I'll tell you about the Toronto School of Magic._

_I have two other siblings, Brian and Brianna. They're nine years old, and twins. They might write to you too, but don't expect much of a letter, because they're not great letter-writers. They even have problems writing the essays Mum assigns them for schoolwork. I wonder how they'll manage when they're eleven and have to start their magical schooling._

_The reason why my parents never contacted Aunt Sylvia before, besides Christmas cards, was because Mum was really distraught when Uncle Stuart died. Also, Aunt Sylvia had decided not to have much to do with the wizarding world until the two of you were old enough to attend Hogwarts. My parents have contacted your mother yesterday and they've caught up on things. We know all about you, James, except for Cait. (She is five, after all, and can't be depended to keep it secret until she's older.) Anyway, Mum and Dad will be contacting your headmaster, soon. You see, Harry Potter is attending the Toronto School of Magic. The witch who adopted him moved to Toronto, Canada several years ago. So now the British witches and wizards won't have to worry anymore._

_Aunt Sylvia was really happy to hear that. She'll probably write to you and tell you all this, but I wanted to tell you as well. Headmistress Lavelle will write to your headmaster and confirm that Harry is there. She doesn't know about you, James, but does know that Harry is sort of hiding and doesn't want the entire wizarding world to know where he is. Please write back as soon as possible. I want to get to know the two of you._

_Your cousin,_

_Ryan Adams_

_P.S. I've included a picture of my family. Ryan _

Jade blinked, while James stared at the letter in his hand. After a moment of surprised silence, Jade said, "So we have a cousin named Ryan. And three more cousins as well. Mum did mention that, but I never expected to have contact with them."

"And our aunt and uncle are going to tell Dumbledore that Harry Potter is at the Toronto School of Magic," said James. "Well, Sirius can stop his motions of looking for Harry Potter, and the wizarding world can end the search." He handed the letter to Hermione so she, Ron, and Neville could read it.

After a few minutes, Hermione asked in a whisper, "But what if Dumbledore tries to get Harry Potter to attend Hogwarts? Or insists on visiting the school or have Harry come to Britain so he can speak with the Boy-Who-Lived?"

For once in her life, Jade had no answer to that. She frowned, then shrugged. "I don't know. Mum will take care of it, I guess."

"The Headmistress of the Toronto School of Magic can always refuse to have Dumbledore visit," pointed out Ron. "As for speaking with Harry, James could just remove the Glamour and meet Dumbledore at a certain time and place. Once the meeting's over, 'Harry Potter' will leave for Canada. Then James becomes James again and goes about his life."

They stared at Ron for several seconds. Then Hermione exclaimed, "That's brilliant, Ron! That could work." Ron turned as red as his hair from the praise and mumbled something incomprehensible.

Jade withdrew the photo and looked at it. The Adams family, like the Weasleys, were all redheads. Aunt Nicole had auburn hair and green eyes. Uncle David had dark red hair, blue eyes, and a short beard. Ryan had dark red hair and green eyes, and was tall. He looked as if he was about Ron's height. The twins, Brian and Brianna, had auburn hair. Brian had blue eyes like his father and Brianna had green eyes like her mother. Other than their eyes, length of hair, and clothes, they looked identical. Cait looked like any adorable five-year old, with curly flame-red hair and blue eyes.

That evening, a letter from Mrs. North arrived, confirming what Ryan had written. Plans had been made as what to do if Dumbledore insisted on meeting Harry Potter.

The next day was the Quidditch match. Since the Slytherins no longer had the advantage of better brooms, they resorted to unfair tactics in hopes of winning the match. It didn't go so well, as Madam Hooch called fouls no less than twelve times and ten of the times the Gryffindor Chasers were able to score. Finally James spotted the Snitch and went streaking after it. Malfoy saw James two seconds later and went after him. James reached the Snitch first and closed his fingers around it. The next second, his arm was raised triumphantly in the air.

The stands burst into cheers as Lee Jordan shouted the results, Gryffindor had won three hundred points to eighty.

After was the party in the common room. Fred and George had gotten some food from the kitchens and the party lasted until the evening.

The next day, Jade and James wrote to Ryan and told him all about their friends and Hogwarts. Ryan responded a week later with a letter about his friends and the Toronto School of Magic. He added in a postscript that his family was going to go to Britain for the Christmas holidays and visit them.

Two days later, Mr. and Mrs. Adams had contacted Dumbledore and informed him that Harry Potter was attending the Toronto School of Magic. The Headmistress confirmed the story and the next day, the Daily Prophet had a front page article that Harry Potter had been found and was in Canada. The exact location wasn't revealed. After that, things died down and James amd Jade no longer felt a pricking in their minds that said that someone was trying to Legilimency on them.


	8. Relatives and Meeting with Dumbledore

The Christmas holidays arrived and James and Jade went home. They couldn't wait to meet their Canadian relatives, who would be visiting. They were also very interested to find out what it was their mother wanted to speak to them about. In her last letter, Mrs. North had said that an important matter had come up and she and Sirius wanted their opinion before doing anything. Jade had absolutely no idea what the matter could be, though James had an inkling when he read that both his mother and Sirius wouldn't do anything about the matter until they'd consulted him and Jade.

At King's Cross Station. Mrs. North, Sirius, and Remus met the kids. After Mrs. North had greeted and hugged her kids, she said, "We'll be spending the holidays at the Black family home. Sirius cleaned the place and it's the only place that's big enough to accomodate us and our guests. You know our relatives would never be able to stay at our house. They're coming tomorrow."

"And your meeting with Dumbledore is for the day after tomorrow, James," said Sirius once they were in the car. "We've all decided that it was best to pretend that your adopted aunt and uncle were the ones to adopt you. You'll have to pretend to be your cousin Ryan. Your Glamour will be changed so that you look like Ryan and you'll tell Dumbledore that the Adamses adopted you when they were visiting relatives in Britain, gave you the name Ryan, and took you with them to Canada."

"Okay," said James. "After I meet Dumbledore, I remove my Glamour and undergo a blood test, right?"

Remus nodded. "That will confirm who you really are. Dumbledore wanted to go to the Toronto School of Magic to confirm things, but Headmistress Lavelle wouldn't let him and said that she'd already done a blood test of her own. So he agreed to wait until 'Harry Potter' came to visit British relatives for Christmas and confirm things then."

The car stopped at Grimmauld Place and they got out. Between Numbers Eleven and Thirteen, another house, Number Twelve, appeared and they went inside. Mrs. Black's portrait could still not be removed, but she was covered by curtains and a Silencing Charm kept her from being heard. The house-elf heads had been removed and the wall was now covered with evergreen boughs, tinsel, and holly. Kreacher, the old house-elf, had been dismissed. Sirius didn't know where Kreacher had gone, though it was likely he'd went to the Malfoys, as Mrs. Malfoy was Sirius's cousin and born a Black.

James and Jade were given rooms on the third floor and they quickly settled in. As there was an hour and a half before dinner, Sirius gave them a tour of the house. The two weren't surprised when they saw Sirius's room. The walls were decorated with Gryffindor banners. Some pictures of motorbikes and Muggle girls in bikinis also hung on the walls, along with a photo of the Marauders. All of the things on the wall had a Permanent Sticking Charm on them, which explained why the room hadn't been redecorated when Sirius had ran away from home and went to live with the Potters.

After dinner, Mrs. North and Sirius took the kids down to the kitchen, which was in the basement. Mrs. North began. "Well, we have been dating for the past four months, if you haven't figured out already. Sirius the first man I've fallen in love with ever since your father died, Jade. Well, Sirius is in love with me as well."

"We want to get married, but only if the two of you have no objections to it," added Sirius.

Jade was very surprised by this and stared at her mother and Sirius. After she'd recovered, she responded, "Well, I have no objections to having you become my stepfather, Sirius. So I'm okay with the marriage."

James had been wondering if what his mother wanted to talk to him about was marriage with Sirius, so he wasn't as surprised. He thought it over, then said, "I don't mind, either. It'd be nice to have you be my adopted father in addition to godfather."

Sirius and Mrs. North smiled and exchanged a lovey-dovey look and a kiss. Jade giggled, while James groaned and said, "Yuck! Don't be so disgusting in front of me. Get a room, Mum and Sirius!"

Sirius grinned. "You won't find it so disgusting when you're older and have a girlfriend, James. Anyway, I want you and Remus to be my best men."

"And you and Hermione are to be my bridesmaids, Jade," added Mrs. North. "The wedding will be in July. Oh, and I have to ask Emilia to be my matron of honor. And of course John will have to stand with her. "

James blinked, but then, Mrs. (Dr.) Granger was his mother's best friend, so it be logical for her to be matron of honor.

The next morning, the Adams family arrived via International Portkey. Uncle David was easy-going, sort of like Mr. Weasley. Aunt Nicole was sweet and motherly, sort of like Mrs. Weasley, but without the temper. Ryan was as tall as Ron, as James had guessed from the photo. He also had glasses and Ryan explained that he'd taken them off when the photo was taken. Brian and Brianna were mischievous, and like Fred and George, enjoyed playing pranks and often finished each other's sentences. Caitlin was as adorable as she looked, except for the fact that she constantly asked question. He favorite word seemed to be 'why'. She was missing a tooth and spoke with an adorable lisp.

After saying hello to her cousins, Cait asked, "Why do you have brown hair 'stead of red hair? We're s'posed to be rel-tives."

Her mother explained, "Your Aunt Sylvia has brown hair, so that's why your cousins have brown hair, Cait."

"Why don't they have blue eyes like Aunt Sylvia then?" continued Cait.

"Because their father, my brother and your Uncle Stuart, had green eyes," answered Aunt Nicole.

"Where's Uncle Stuart?" asked Cait.

"Don't you remember me telling you that your Uncle Stuart died and went to Heaven?" inquired Uncle David.

"Why did he die?"

"We told you, he was fighting an evil wizard and the followers of the evil wizard killed him."

"Why was the wizard evil?"

Aunt Nicole sighed loudly and replied, "Nobody knows why he was evil. He just was."

"Okay." Cait looked around the hallway and saw the curtains. "What's behind the curtains?"

"A portrait of my mother," responded Sirius.

"Why is she behind curtains?"

"Because she's ugly and likes to shout and say mean things."

"Why does she say mean things?"

"Because she's not a nice person."

"Why isn't she nice?"

Sirius sighed and did his best to answer Cait's question. However, Cait just continued asking questions, each answer causing her to think of another question to ask. Ryan rolled his eyes and followed James and Jade upstairs.

"Cait's adorable, but her habit of always asking question gets on my nerves. And answering the questions just makes her think of more to ask. A few days ago, she asked Dad why the grass was green. When he said God made the grass that way, she asked why God picked green. Dad replied that God liked the color green for grass. Then she asked why God didn't make the sky green as well. Dad finally got annoyed and told her to stop asking questions."

Jade couldn't help giggling. "It's a good thing Cait's not my sister. I don't think I could stand having a little sister that asked questions constantly, Ryan."

They reached the room Ryan was going to stay in and he set down his suitcase. After getting settled in, they went downstairs. Cait had finally stopped asking questions, but only because her mother had told her to stop pestering Sirius and aunt. She was now poring through some old picture books that had belonged to James and Jade and reading to her doll. Since she was only five, she couldn't read all the words and she had to sound them out or ask her mother for help.

After lunch, Jade and James got to know Ryan much better and they spent the afternoon playing games and comparing their schools. Brian and Brianna tried to play a prank on them in the middle of the game Trivial Pursuit, but Ryan was able to chase the twins off by threatening to tell their mother that they were responsible for the school portraits singing "This is the song that never ends" and "This is the song that gets on everybody's nerves" for an hour.

The next afternoon, James changed to more formal clothes, had his mother change the Glamour so he looked like Ryan, and Flooed to Hogwarts with Aunt Nicole and Uncle David. Dumbledore was waiting for them in his office and offered tea and cakes. James, wondering if his tea had Veritserum in it, only pretended to take a sip. Dumbledore showed no sign of being pleased that James was drinking the tea, however, and merely said, "So you're Harry Potter."

James nodded and Aunt Nicole removed the Glamour. "I prefer Ryan Adams," said James. "That's the name I've gone by all my life. I was only told that I was really Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, last year, when I was old enough to attend the Toronto School of Magic. Though I have known since I was seven that I was adopted." Sirius had done a spell beforehand that removed his English accent so that he would sound Canadian.

"I see," said Dumbledore. "Your Headmistress told me what happened. Now, I will have to do a blood test to confirm that you are really Harry Potter. Please hold out a finger so I can prick it."

James did so and after a drop of blood was squeezed out, Dumbledore did a spell confirming that he was Harry Potter. "Now, Ryan, wouldn't you rather attend Hogwarts like your birth parents did?"

"No thank you, Professor Dumbledore," answered James. "The Toronto School of Magic is a good magical school, and Dad is the Transfiguration teacher there and I like it. I really don't want to transfer to Hogwarts."

"All right," sighed Dumbledore. "I won't press you, Ryan. It would probably be better for you in Canada, anyway. Voldemort doesn't know where in Canada you are, because I never told the _Daily Prophet_, so you could be safer there. Well, here is the key to your vault. And something that belonged to your birth father. He had lent it to me just before his death and I planned to give it to you someday. Fortunately the false Harry Potter behaved the way he did, or I would have given it to him."

James shook Dumbledore's hand and his aunt and uncle bid Dumbledore good-bye. The three of them then Flooed back to the Black home. James was quite surprised to discover that the package Dumbledore had given him was an Invisibility Cloak. Sirius smiled when he saw the Cloak and recounted some of the adventures the Marauders had gotten into with it. Ryan, Brianna, and Brian looked envious and said wistfully that they had an Invisibility Cloak.

Mrs. North just shook her head and said sternly, "Don't misuse the Cloak, James. Certainly don't get into the sort of escapades the Marauders did. If you do, I may have to take away the Cloak for awhile as punishment."

James promised that he wouldn't.

Authors' Note: Sorry that the meeting with Dumbledore was short. Dumbledore had already been told the story of how Harry Potter had become Ryan Adams and ended up in Canada. He just wanted to confirm that Harry Potter wasn't a fake and then ask if he wanted to attend Hogwarts. When James said 'no' Dumbledore didn't press the matter. He's not manipulative or anything and right now he just wants Harry Potter to have a good and happy life without any danger for now. He's going to get a big shock when James finally reveals himself.


	9. Christmas

On Christmas Eve, the Grangers came by as usual, this time bringing a mince pie along with the usual bottle of wine. Hermione was introduced to the cousins and became friends with Ryan at once. He enjoyed reading and was focused on his schoolwork, though he also took time to relax, usually by playing Quidditch or some other game. Though Ryan was a good flyer, his Quidditch skills were merely passable and the best that he could be was a reserve on his house team.

The kids spent the afternoon playing games, Since Mr. and Mrs. Adams said that Caitlin should be included, the kids were forced to play Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, and a couple of other games suited for younger kids. Cait also insisted on having a tea party and so the kids were forced to do that as well. As James and Jade hadn't played tea party since the age of seven, they weren't at all enthusastic. Jade and Hermione weren't thrilled about the dolls, either. They had never been the type to play with dolls, except to pretend that they were archaeologists or warriors and such. They had never pretended that they were princesses or getting ready for a party like Cait was doing, except for the time they acted out _Beauty and the Beast_.

Eventually Cait decided that she wanted to read to her dolls and she went upstairs to her room to do so. The older kids, much relieved, went to do activites that they wanted. Ryan and James began playing video games. (Sirius had bought a television and Mrs. North had brought over the game system.) Hermione, Jade, Brian, and Brianna played Expolding Snap.

At six o'clock was dinner, held in the dining room. The three mothers had done all the cooking and it was delicious. During dessert, all the kids except Cait was allowed a spoonful of wine mixed with grape juice. Cait protested that she wanted some wine as well, and started questioning why when her parents said no. She started to ask even more questions, and to head her off, her mother finally allowed her to have grape juice with two drops of wine in it.

Two hours after dinner, the Grangers left. Not long after that, everyone went to bed.

Brianna and Brian woke everyone up at five the next morning by setting off some fireworks, yelling "Merry Christmas!" and ringing a bell. The adults were annoyed at being woken up so early, but didn't say anything as it was Christmas. Everyone went downstairs to the living room to open the presents.

James did not care for the canary yellow trimmed with green dress robe Aunt Nicole gave him, but he politely thanked her and pretended to like it. His other gifts were more satisfactory, even the stuffed phoenix Cait gave him. Mrs. Weasley had sent another sweater, this one scarlet with a gold lion on the front, along with nut brittle and a cake. His mother had given him a Game Boy and some spending money. Jade, Ryan, Neville, Remus, and the Grangers had gotten him books and Hermione had gotten him a luxurious eagle feather quill. Sirius's gift was a box of prank items and Ron's a Chudley Cannons poster. Hagrid had sent a dragon whittled out of wood and Uncle David's present was a book on Quodpot, a game played in the States. Brianna's gift was a box of chocolate and Brian's a box of trick sweets.

After all the presents had been opened, Aunt Nicole took the dress robes she'd given James. "I thought I ordered green robes trimmed with yellow. The shop must have gotten the colors mixed up." She pulled out her wand and transfigured the robes so that it was now a forest green with gold trim. As the dress robes now looked much nicer, James appreciated the gift more.

Everyone went upstairs to dress, brush their teeth, and wash up. James donned the sweater Mrs. Weasley had sent, along with a pair of jeans. After a delicious breakfast, Cait went to play with her new toys and the older kids played the Monopoly game that Brian had got, which was changed to reflect the wizarding world. (For example, the four railroads had become the Nimbus, Comet, Cleansweep, and Shooting Star companies and the money was changed to Galleons.) The game lasted until lunchtime, and Brianna won.

After lunch, a prank war ensued, Remus and Sirius against Brian and Brianna. Since the twins were too young to actually do magic, no spells were involved. In the end, Remus and Sirius won, though the twins were tough competition.

On Saturday, a party was held and the Grangers, Weasleys, Longbottoms, Lovegoods, and a couple of other people Sirius and Mrs. North were invited. Amelia Bones, who was Mrs. North's Head of Department, attended and brought her niece, Susan.

Other than working with her a few times in Herbology, James and Jade didn't know Susan that well. However, they got to know her pretty well at the party and by the time it was over, Susan was counted as a friend. The next day, Hermione ordered a notebook like the ones Neville had gotten his friends and linked it to them. Then she sent it to Susan with a letter explaining things. Since Susan was now their friend, it was best that she had a way of communicating as they were in different houses.

The rest of the holidays passed quickly. The day after New Year's, the Adamses took an International Portkey back to Canada. Two days after that, James and Jade went back to Hogwarts.

Authors' Note: Sorry that this chapter is short. We hope the readers don't mind Susan Bones becoming friends with James and Jade, though she won't be quite as close as Hermione, Ron, and Neville are. We'll see more of the Adams family, as they'll be visiting for Christmas and summer holidays. James and Jade will also make one trip to Canada and see what the Toronto School of Magic is like. Ryan and Ginny will become pen pals, as they got along very well at the party.

Dumbledore does prefer having Harry Potter be at Hogwarts, but the Toronto School of Magic is a good school, and he does want Harry to have a normal and happy life until it's time for him to deal with Voldemort. Also, if he tried to go against the wishes of Harry and his adopted parents, the Adamses could bring the matter to court and he doesn't want that. Snape could care less about things at the moment, because to him, Harry Potter is the son of the enemy and he doesn't want to have to deal with teaching the Boy-Who-Lived (even if he is also Lily's son). As long as Harry Potter seems to be safe and happy, Snape isn't going to spend any time worrying about it until Voldemort returns and Harry has to fight him.


	10. Discovering the Chamber

The first day back, Jade and Hermione were walking back from the library and heard Filch muttering angrily. They quickly ducked behind a statue and waited for Filch to pass. Once he was gone, they continued on their way. After a minute, they came across a large puddle of water seeping out from the girls' bathroom. Jade and Hermione exchanged looks. Moaning Myrtle, the ghost that haunted that particular bathroom, had obviously gone into one of her crying rages and flooded the bathroom.

For some reason, Jade decided to go in the bathroom and try to comfort Myrtle. Hermione opened her mouth, then shut it and followed Jade inside.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Myrtle. Then she saw who it was and said, "Oh. What do you want?" Jade had always been nice to Myrtle, so the ghost tolerated her.

"Hello, Myrtle. What's the matter?" asked Jade gently.

"Peeves came in here and made fun of me," responded Myrtle. "He threw an inkwell at me before leaving."

Jade looked down and saw the smashed remains of an inkwell on the floor. "That was mean of Peeves."

Myrtle nodded. "It was. Just because I'm dead and can't feel things doesn't mean he can throw something at me."

"How did you die, Myrtle?" asked Hermione curiously. "I've always wondered."

Myrtle's whole aspect changed at once. She looked as though she had never been asked such a flattering question.

"Ooooh, it was dreadful," she said with relish. "It happened right here. I died in this very cubicle. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a_ boy_ speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then-" Myrtle swelled importantly, her face shining, "I _died_."

"How?" asked Jade.

"No idea," said Myrtle in hushed tones. "I just remember seeing a pair of great big yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away..." She looked dreamily at Jade. "And then I came back again. I was determined to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses."

"Where exactly did you see the eyes?" asked Hermione.

"Somewhere there," said Myrtle, pointing vaguely towards the sink in front of her toilet.

"What did the language sound like?" asked Jade, going over to examine the sink.

"Hissing, I think."

"So this language must have a great deal of sibilents in it," murmered Hermione.

Jade ignored Hermione and continued her examination of the sink. Finally she saw a tiny snake scratched on the side of one of the copper taps. Wondering why a snake was on the tap, she tried to turn it.

"That tap's never worked," said Myrtle brightly.

Jade turned. "Then why doesn't someone fix it?"

Myrtle shrugged, while Hermione looked thoughtful. "Thank you for talking with us, Myrtle," Hermione said politely.

"You're welcome. Please come back and talk any time."

"We will," said Jade, and she and Hermione left the bathroom.

In the Gryffindor common room, Hermione took out her copy of _Hogwarts, a History_ and began flipping through it. Jade told the boys about Myrtle's death and the tap with the inscribed snake that didn't work.

"It's probably nothing, though," said Jade. "I guess the tap stopped working years ago and nobody bothered to fix it."

"It might not be nothing," said Hermione. "Legend has it that Salazar Slytherin built a secret chamber in the castle without telling the other three Founders. Supposedly the Chamber of Secrets contains Slytherin's monster. What if the legend is true and the entrance is in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom? After all, Myrtle said the boy was hissing, and Parseltongue, or snake language, is hissing. So the boy could have been Slytherin's heir and was opening his chamber."

Ron and Jade looked skeptical, while James and Neville looked thoughtful. "Actually, my Gran did say that the Chamber of Secrets was opened during her second year at Hogwarts," said Neville. "That was about fifty years ago. A student died, most likely Moaning Myrtle. Hogwarts was going to close, but a Slytherin prefect caught the culprit and turned him in."

"Who was the culprit?" asked Ron, no longer looking skeptical.

"Hagrid," answered Neville. "He was expelled, but Professor Dumbledore, who was Transfiguration teacher then, convinced Professor Dippet, the Headmaster, to let Hagrid remain and be trained as the gameskeeper."

"Hagrid was obviously framed for a crime he didn't commit, or the prefect that turned him in made a mistake," declared James. "We know Hagrid, and the last thing he'd do is set a monster loose that would attack and kill people."

"Remember Norbert?" asked Jade. "Hagrid likes dangerous creatures. He sees them as misunderstood or something like that. I'm not saying that he intentionally would have a monster attack, but he could think that whatever monster was in the Chamber of Secrets deserved a chance to stretch it's legs and let it loose for that reason. Then it got out of his control."

"On the other hand, Hagrid doesn't speak Parseltongue," pointed out Hermione. "Nor is it likely that he's Slytherin's heir. I agree with James, that Hagrid was framed or the prefect made a mistake. Dumbledore wouldn't have talked the old headmaster to let Hagrid remain to be trained as gameskeeper if he was guilty."

"But Dumbledore could have seen that Hagrid didn't mean to hurt anyone when he decided to set a monster loose and that's why he wanted Hagrid to remain," said Jade. "I'm not saying that I think Hagrid is guilty, but I am bringing up the possibility."

Neville sighed. "How about I write to my Gran and ask her to tell me some more about it? Maybe she remembers the name of the person who turned in Hagrid."

The others agreed. A few days later, Mrs. Longbottom sent a reply, saying that the person who turned in Hagrid was named Tom Riddle and received an award for special services to the school, as well as a number of points for Slytherin.

When they read that name, Hermione said, "Okay, Hagrid was definitely framed. Tom Riddle probably opened the Chamber and set a monster loose to attack students. Then when Hogwarts was going to close, Riddle didn't want that and decided to blame it all on Hagrid. It wouldn't surprise me if Hagrid did have a creature in his possession that was dangerous, but not the one attacking students, back then, making it easy for him to be blamed."

"Too bad none of us can speak Parseltongue, or we could see if the tap in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," remarked James.

"Uh, I think you can speak Parseltongue," said Jade."Remember when Mum took us and Hermione to the London Zoo for our eighth birthday? You were admiring one of the snakes in the reptile house. When this really big and fat boy and his friend shoved into us, the glass vanished and the snake escaped. You told me that you thought you heard a hissing voice from the snake say, 'Brazil, here I come. Thanks, amigos.' One of us must have done accidental magic because of the boys knocking us down and caused the glass to vanish. Mum glossed the incident over, but she did look at us sort of funny."

James's eyes widened as he recalled the incident. Another visitor had tapped on the glass to make the snake move, but it didn't. Then when James went to admire it, the snake had winked at him and given him a look that said plainly, _I get that all the time_. He had felt sorry for the snake and called Jade and Hermione over. The three read the placard that said the snake was a Brazilian one, but had been bred in captivity. After that, the two boys had knocked into them and seconds later, the glass had vanished. During the pandemonium, the snake had slithered away and James had heard the hissing voice.

"James is not going to see if he can speak Parseltongue and try to open the Chamber," said Hermione firmly.

James nodded. "Hermione's right. I don't want to open the Chamber. What if I accidentally set the monster loose? It's probably a giant snake or something and I don't want it killing you guys or anyone else. Not even Malfoy. And since Moaning Myrtle died just from seeing the eyes, the monster would probably be something like ..." He trailed off and thought hard, recalling all the magical beasts he had ever read about. He knew that gazing at Medusa's face would turn you into stone, but Medusa was a mythical Greek being known as a Gorgon, not a creature. He tried to recall every single fantasy book he had read. After a minute, he gasped. "The monster could be a basilisk!"

"What?" demanded Ron. "What's a basilisk?"

"It's a giant snake that can kill you with it's gaze," replied James. "At least, it is in the wizarding world. Some Muggle fantasy books portray basilisks as lizards, though." He dug in his bag and took out his copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_. After flipping through it, he found the basilisk entry and read through it. "It fits. A basilisk can kill you with it's gaze if you look directly at it. If you only see it indirectly, like a reflection in a mirror, you're only Petrified. Then someone has to make a restorative potion with Mandrakes to revive you."

They all shuddered. "Okay, we know that the entrance to the Chamber is probably in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom," said Neville. "Let's just leave it that. We don't need to be curious and do something that will get us in trouble."

"But I do plan to make sure I can really speak Parseltongue," said James. "The thing with the snake talking to me when it escaped could have been my imagining things. When the weather's warmer, I'll find a harmless snake and try to talk with it."

Authors' Note: Thanks goes to Knight25, who suggested that Moaning Myrtle tells about how she died after being asked and Neville telling about the Chamber of Secrets. We only changed it from Jade asking her to Hermione, and didn't include the boys because they wouldn't want to go into a girls' bathroom. Also, Hermione told about the Chamber, but Neville was the one to know what happened when it was first oepned. The two boys that knocked into James, Jade, and Hermione will remain nameless. Whether or not they're Dudley and one of his friends can be up to the reader.


	11. Dobby's Reward

Professor Dumbledore called James and Jade into his office the next week. "I have determined that the diary was used as a way to help Voldemort cling to life. That is why he didn't die when the Killing Curse bounded off Harry Potter. The part of Voldemort contained in the diary could possess someone who spent too much time writing in it. In any case, I have burned the diary and it will not cause any harm. So you don't have to worry any more about it, Miss and Mr. North."

"That is good news, Professor Dumbledore," said Jade.

Dumbledore nodded and showed them the blackened cover of the diary. The pages inside had all been burned to ash. James looked at it and suddenly thought of something. "Professor, could I have the remains of the diary?"

Dumbledore stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, you may, Mr. North. I'm sure you will put it to good use. Lemon drop?" He held out a glass jar filled with golden yellow sweets.

Jade and James each took one and thanked Dumbledore. After that, they were allowed to leave.

Once in the hall, Jade demanded, "What are you going to do with the remains of the diary, James?"

"Send it to Mr. Malfoy so he'll know his plot failed," answered James. "And set Dobby free at the same time. I'll stick a sock or some other small item of clothing inside the cover. When Mr. Malfoy sees the blackened remains of the diary, he'll give it to Dobby to throw out, I'm sure. Dobby will find the sock or whatever and therefore be set free."

Jade grinned. "Oh, that's perfect! I can't believe I never thought of that!"

Later, James grabbed one of this socks, a green one, and stuck a note in it asking Dobby to go to Hogwarts and talk with James and Jade after being set free. The sock was then folded and put inside the blackened remains of the cover. A Sticking Charm was added to keep the sock from falling it, as well as a Disillusionment Charm that would wear off as soon as Dobby touched the diary. Finally, Jade wrote a note.

"_Dear Mr. Malfoy,_

_Whatever you planned with Tom Riddle's diary failed. I know that any spell that allows a person to preserve memories, other than putting them in a Pensieve, borders on dark magic, so I was naturally suspicious. Also, my mother has told me to never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. So I turned the diary in to Dumbledore, who after some study, identified what kind of Dark object it was and destroyed it._

_I am returning the diary, or the remains of it, rather, to you. Please do not try anything like this again. I can't prove that it was you who slipped the diary among my school things, but I have told my mother and future stepfather about it. They will do everything in their power to make certain you are punished if you try to slip any more of Moldywart's old things to my brother or me again. Since you have no need of the remains of the diary, I suggest that you have your house-elf (you do have one, I hope?) throw it out._

_Yours truly,_

_Jadina North_"

The note was placed on top of the remains of the diary and everything was wrapped up. That evening, Hedwig flew away with the package.

The next afternoon, Hedwig swooped inside an open window of the Malfoy Manor and left the parcel on the table. Several minutes later, Lucius Malfoy went inside the room and saw the package. Frowning, he opened it and looked at the note and the remains of the diary. "Who sent this?" he demanded angrily. Then he picked up the note and read it. Byt the time he was done, he was furious. His cheeks were red and his eyes flashed.

After muttering curses at his failed plot, he summoned Dobby. When the poor house-elf appeared, Lucius vented out his anger by kicking Dobby and threatening all nammer of punishments. Finally he thrust the remains of the diary and snapped, "Throw out this rubbish and then go punish yourself."

Dobby bowed and said, "Yes, Master." He took the book, which fell open in his grasp. The Disillusionment Charm vanished and the sock appeared. He let out a gasp and grabbed the sock. When he realized that a temporary Sticking Charm was on it, he removed the spell and then took out the sock, staring at it.

"What are you still doing here?" demanded Lucius Malfoy seconds later. "I thought I told you to throw the rubbish out!"

"Master has given Dobby a sock," said the elf in wonderment. "Master gave it to Dobby."

"What's that," spat Mr. Malfoy. "What did you say?"

"Dobby has got a sock," said Dobby in disbelief. "Master gave the burned book to Dobby. The sock was in it. Dobby is _free_."

Mr. Malfoy was even more furious as he realized what had happened. That Mudblood girl didn't just return the remains of the diary to him to prove that his plot failed. She had also used it as a way to set his blasted house-elf free. He reached for his wand to do something to Dobby, but the house-elf had found the note in sock, read it, and disappeared with a small crack. Mr. Malfoy shouted curses before storming angrily upstairs to rant at his wife.

Meanwhile, Jade and James were telling Susan Bones what they had done with the remains of the diary in an empty classroom. Susan laughed. "Serves Mr. Malfoy right. I hope the plan to free his house-elf succeeds."

"But what do you plan to do when Dobby shows up here?" asked Hermione. "Once he's free, he'll probably want to find a family to work for that's going to treat him decently."

"He can work for Sirius and my mum," responded James. "They'll be good to him. Sirius could use a nice house-elf to take care of his family home. Dobby will be much nicer than Kreacher."

"Who's Kreacher?" asked Susan curiously.

"Oh, the old house-elf that the Blacks had," replied Jade. "He was really annoying. The one time I saw him, he kept muttering about how Sirius was a blood-traitor and called James and me 'Mudblood brats'. Sirius freed him and I expect Kreacher went to work for the Malfoys, since Mrs. Malfoy was born a Black and is Sirius's cousin."

"You mean Sirius Black is related to Draco Malfoy?" inquired Susan, making a face. "That's terrible!"

"I'm distantly related to him," said James, not thinking. "Since all pureblood families are related. And you would be too, Susan, because the Boneses are also a pureblood family."

"True," said Susan. "And what do you mean that you're related to Malfoy? Your parents are Muggleborn."

James sighed, realizing his slip. He got up and paced the room, deciding what to do. Susan was a good friend, and he was sure she was trustworthy, but should he tell her his secret? Sixteen people already knew it, (besides him and the goblins at Gringotts) so he should add another person to the list? He sat down again and looked at Jade, pleading with his eyes for help.

Jade considered, then said, "Well, Susan is our friend, and she's a trustworthy person, so I think it's safe to tell her. Susan, what we tell you next doesn't leave the room. You can't tell anyone, not even those you're close with in Hufflepuff."

"Okay," replied Susan. She raised a hand and said, "I swear to never reveal what you are about to tell me to anyone." A silver glow surrounded her hand, signifying that it was a magical oath.

James dispelled the Glamour and said, "Okay, the _Daily Prophet_ article about Harry Potter being in Canada isn't true, because I'm him. It's something my adopted mother and aunt and uncle cooked up to put an end to the search. My adopted aunt and uncle are teachers at the Toronto School of Magic, by the way."

"_You're_ Harry Potter?" demanded Susan, staring at him. "Well, you do have the scar. But why are you hiding?"

"Because if Moldyshorts knew where I was, he'd go after me again," answered James. "I know eventually I'll have to face him again and defeat him once and for all, but I don't want it to happen anytime soon. I need to be properly prepared, after all. That's why I'm hiding in plain sight. My relatves didn't want me, so I got dumped on a random doorstep. Luckily for me, Jade's mother was the owner of the house and she adopted me. To help keep me safe, I was to go by my birth middle name and I was made Jade's twin brother, with her birthday, July 25th. Mum told me the truth when Jade and I turned eleven."

"Okay," said Susan, digesting it all. "What about last year? You faced You-Know-Who over the Philosopher's Stone."

"Well, I had help," said James. "And it was also partly luck and the protection my birth mother gave me when she died to save me. That was why Quirrell couldn't stand to touch me and why he died. But eventually Moldywart will find a way to get a body and come back into power. When that happens, I'll have to fight him and defeat him once and for all. But I don't want him seeking me out first, so it's best that he doesn't have idea where my exact location is."

"But why do you have to defeat him?" pressed Susan. "Couldn't Dumbledore do it? He defeated Grindelwald."

"If Dumbledore was the one that could defeat Voldemort, don't you think it would have already happened?" asked Jade. "Or at least, Voldemort would go after Dumbledore? But instead, Voldemort chose to go after James. If he was so keen to try to kill James then, then Voldemort'll want to go after him once he's regained his powers and a body."

Susan looked thoughtful. "That does make sense. Well, you can count on me to help you, James." A gold glow appeared around her body, and as she clasped James's hand, a red cord flashed on her wrist for several seconds.

"You've definitely joined our group then," said Ron, looking surprised. "The red cord means that you're more than just friends with us. What did you say it meant, Jade? That it was like blood brother and sisterhood?"

Jade nodded. "Yes, it is, except that it we wanted to be boyfriend and girlfriend, we could." To Susan, she explained, "When the rest of us promised to help James and that we'd be eternal friends, the same thing happened to us."

Susan looked awed. "Wow. So now I'm more than just friends with you guys." She sighed. "I almost wish I were in Gryffindor with you guys. Hufflepuff is a great house, but it's easier when you're in the same house with your friends."

"Well, you have the notebook, so you can talk with us when we're apart," pointed out Neville. Just then, there was crack, and Dobby appeared, holding the sock and note.

"Thank you!" he cried. "You is freeing me, Jadina North!"

"Just call me Jade," said Jade kindly. "James and I felt sorry for you, working for the Malfoys and being treated so badly, Dobby. So James came up with a plan to get you freed and we carried out it. Besides, you did warn us about the plot that was planned. Since you didn't seem happy working for the Malfoys, we felt freedom would be the best reward for you."

Dobby bowed. "Thank you.You is being a great and kind witch."

"Dobby, since you no longer work for the Malfoys, would you like to work for my mother and her husband-to-be, Sirius Black?" asked James. "They'd treat you much better than the Malfoys did."

"Dobby is happy to!" Dobby exclaimed. Then his eyes widened as he took in James's appearance.

James sighed and said, "I was born Harry Potter, but now I go by the name James North, okay, Dobby? It's to protect me from You-Know-Who. I have on a Glamour most of the time that makes me look like I'm the twin brother to Jade, though I'm really just her adopted brother. Now, Dobby, you can't tell anybody about this, okay?"

Dobby nodded fervently. "James North can count on Dobby to keep his secret."

"Good," said James, sighing with relief. "Now, why don't you go to my house and ask my mother and godfather to hire you? Just a minute and I'll write a note explaining things." He reached in his bag and pulled out parchment, ink, and quill. He hastily wrote a note explaining how Dobby came to be free and asked if he could be hired. "Take this with you and give it to either my mother or Sirius, Dobby."

Dobby bowed, thanked James and Jade again, and then disappeared with a crack.

"That was nice, offering Dobby a job," said Hermione.

"Actually, Mum and Sirius will be the ones to decide if they want to hire him," said Jade. "Though I'm sure they will."

"If they don't, can I ask my parents if they want to hire Dobby?" asked Ron. "My mum has always said that she wanted a house-elf to help with the laundry and stuff."

"Sure," said Jade, shrugging. She glanced at her watch and said, "Let's go down to dinner."


	12. The Last Months of Term

Mrs. North and Sirius did hire Dobby, and when he asked shyly if he could be paid, they agreed to it. They offered him ten Galleons a week and Sundays off, but Dobby didn't want so much and in the end accepted one day off a month and two Galleons a week. Dobby started working a few minutes after that and was very good.

At the end of March was the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. It lasted fifteen minutes and James caught the Snitch, winning the match for Gryffindor, two hundred points to forty. The match was followed by a party in the common room.

The Easter holidays arrived a few days later and James and Jade were requested to go home. Hermione also had to go home as well. They were puzzled by this, for the previous Easter had been spent at Hogwarts. The next day, they found out why they had to go home when Mrs. North and Mrs. Granger took them to Madam Malkin's.

After measurements and the two mothers looking through swatches of materials, dress robes for the wedding were decided upon. Hermione and Jade would be wearing pale green with gold embroidery and trim. Aunt Nicole had sent the measurements for Cait, who was to be flower girl, and a pale green and gold dress was ordered for her as well. Mrs. Granger was also going to be wearing green and gold, though her robes would be a slightly darker green.

James was ushered to another room with Remus, Sirius, and Mr. Granger to be fitted for their robes. Sirius would wear black and silver. For Mr. Granger, Remus, and Jade, it was finally decided that they would wear dark forest green robes with silver embroidery and trim.

Sirius left after his fitting, for Mrs. North was to be fitted for her wedding dress and it was considered bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding. Mr. Granger and Remus went with Sirius, while James went to wait with Hermione and Jade. He was feeling bored with all this, though he was somewhat interested to see what his mother's wedding dress was going to be.

"Mum's still deciding between traditional white and pale blue," whispered Jade. "But she's already picked out the style."

Hermione showed James pictures of the two wedding dresses. The blue one was of a very pale blue that it looked as if it was white tinged with blue. Both had gold embroidery and trim, with a beaded waist, slightly puffed sleeves trimmed with pearls, and lace skirt. "Both look pretty," said James, hoping that his mother would make a decision quickly.

"Well, which one do you think Mum would look prettier in?" asked Jade.

James shrugged. "How should I know? I'm a boy, and besides, I think she looks pretty in anything. Like Cinderella and Snow White, who looked pretty even when they were wearing rags."

Hermione sighed. "Yes, I agree that Aunt Sylvia looks pretty in just about everything, but there certain clothes or colors she looks better in. Cinderella looked even lovelier in her ball gown than she did in her work clothes, after all."

"Fine, the white then," said James, tired of it all. "That's the traditional color for wedding gowns." He took out his Game Boy from his pocket, but then discovered the magical atmosphere in Diagon Alley kept it from working. After a sigh of frustration, he grabbed one of the (nonfiction) books Hermione had brought along and began reading it, despite the fact that the only books he liked to read were fiction and anything related to Quidditch or Defense Against Dark Arts.

Finally Mrs. North came out of the fitting room, having decided on the white dress and ordered a trousseau. James handed the book he was reading back to Hermione and they all went home. However, there was more to the wedding than just clothes. His mother, along with Mrs. Granger, Mrs. Weasley, and Mrs. Tonks (Sirius's favorite cousin who was disowned by the Blacks for marrying a Muggleborn) were busy going over things like where to hold the ceremony, what should be served at the banquet, and what the decorations and flower arrangements should be. Fortunately, James didn't have to take part in any of the decisions, though Jade and Hermione were eager to help. The only James was concerned about was if they had to move to the Black house after the wedding. His mother assured him that they would still be living in the same house, though if relatives or friends were staying over, they'd temporarily stay in the Black home.

The Easter holidays turned out to not be as fun as the Christmas ones. Ron had also gone home and he came every day with his mother when she was helping with the wedding prepations, so it wasn't too bad. When their homework was done and out of the way, the two boys played video games or read fantasy books. Ron still wasn't much of a reader, but he did find the Muggle fantasy books entertaining.

The week ended and it was time to go back to Hogwarts. James was relieved to escape the wedding preparations. He hadn't had to take part, but he could hear the females discussing it and it got boring to hear whether pink or white roses would be better for the table arrangements. (In the end, Mrs. North had decided on a combation of both.)

To his relief, Hermione didn't discuss the wedding, because she became worried about the end-of-year exams like she did last year. Jade wasn't worried, but she did focus on revising, so she didn't discuss the wedding much either.

Second-year students had to pick up to three elective classes for their third year. None of their old classes could be dropped. James and Ron wished they could drop Defense Against Dark Arts, for they weren't learning with Lockhart for a teacher. James spent most of the time in class pointing out mistakes and descrepancies, to Lockhart's discomfort. The only good thing that happened was that Hermione was finally convinced that the teacher was a fraud.

A few weeks later, the final Quidditch match of the year, between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, was played. It lasted for almost thirty minutes. Katie Bell couldn't play because of a bad cold, so Jade took her place. She did very well and scored six of the goals. She also spotted the Snitch fluttering by the Ravenclaw goalposts before either of the Seekers did. Since it could be considered cheating if she told James alone, she got the attention of both seekers and pointed.

The two seekers went streaking after it. Though the Ravenclaw Seeker was slightly closer, James was the better flyer and reached the Snitch a second earlier. His hand closed on it just as the other Seeker stretched out her hand. The crowd erupted into cheers. Lee Jordan happily shouted out the results: Gryffindor had won the match and cup, two hundred and eighty points to seventy. Wood was crying from happiness as the the team went to accept the Quidditch Cup from Dumbledore.

The euphoria from winning the Cup lasted for several days before James had to focus his attention back to revising for the exams. By this time, he was annoyed by the studying and almost wanted to hear about wedding preparations again. Susan joining the study sessions didn't make things much better, though he didn't have to go to Neville with Herbology questions all the time. He could ask Susan if he had questions.

Finally it was exam week. Unlike last year, there was no worry about Voldemort going after the Stone, and James's scar wasn't hurting, so he could concentrate better. He felt he did well on all the exams, except maybe History of Magic, where he mixed up some of the dates and names. He also didn't think much of the Defense exam, because it was too much like the quiz Lockhart had given at the beginning of the year. The only difference was that most of the questions were things like "Where did Gilderoy Lockhart defeat the Walla-Walla Werewolf?" and "What spell did Gilderoy Lockhart use to defeat banshees?"

When the exams were over, the 'twins' and their friends spent much of their free time visiting Hagrid and teaching Neville how to fly. Neville had expressed the wish since all his friends knew how to fly, though Hermione and Susan weren't all that comfortable on a broom. Jade helped Neville get over his fear and she and Ron did most of the teaching. James really couldn't teach flying, since he had natural talent and didn't learn it from anyone.

Neville finally got the hang of flying, though he would never be very good at it. On the way back inside, they saw Mari and Matt involved in shouting match with Agatha and Callie. Apparently Luna had just put up a sign asking for her missing belongings to be returned to her. Mari and Matt were certain that Agatha and Callie were behind all or some of the disappearance.

The six second-years pulled out their wands. Several weeks earlier, they had worked on the Summoning Charm. After asking Luna what had been taken, they summoned all the objects back. In fact, Luna's butterbeer cork necklace came flying out of Callie's pocket and a pair of earrings shaped like radishes came flying out of Agatha's pocket.

Mari crossed her arms. "I thought you said that you had nothing to do with any of the missing things, _Hagatha_."

Agatha turned red and looked at Callie, who snapped, "This is stupid. If you idiots want to be friends with Loony, fine. But you'll regret hanging out with someone who's so crazy. Come on, Agatha."

Mari called after them, "Be who you want to be, because those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter." Then she turned to the others. "Thanks for getting Luna's stuff back. What was the spell you used?"

"The Summoning Charm," replied Susan. "Do you want to learn it?"

"Yes, but you can teach me next year," answered Mari. "The feast is tomorrow, and then after that we go home for the holidays."

The next day was the feast and it was wonderful. Gryffindor won the House Cup for the second year in the row, mainly to their success in Quidditch.

The day after that, the exam results were announced. Hermione was top of the year, while Jade came in second. (She had a slightly lower grade in Charms.) James and Susan tied for fourth in the year, while Neville and Ron placed sixth and seventh, respectively.

Students then packed up and headed home of the summer holidays. James, Jade, Neville, Hermione, Ron, and Susan got a compartment to themselves. Luna, Ginny, Mari, and Matt occupied the compartment next to them. Late in the afternoon, the Hogwart's Express arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Mrs. North and Sirius were waiting for James and Jade. After greeting them and finding out how they had done on the exams, they got in the car and drove home.

Authors' Note: Well, that's the end of this fic. The next fic, which will be about the wedding and Jade and James's third year at Hogwarts will be up soon. A title hasn't been decided yet, though. Thanks to all those who read and/or reviewed this fic. If you have any suggestions for a title for the third fic, please send them in. The main point will be Peter Pettigrew escaping from Azkaban instead of Sirius, but we don't want the title to be "Prisoner of Azkaban" like the real book. Oh, and James did find a snake one day and proved that he was a Parselmouth.


End file.
